China signals willingness to expand collaboration with GAVI

   GAVI said that Health Minister Professor Chen Zhu “marked the Chinese Government’s first high-level meeting with the GAVI Alliance on Monday by signaling China’s willingness to expand collaboration with the Alliance.” Minister Chen, meeting with GAVI CEO Dr. Seth Berkley in Beijing, “indicated his Government’s interest in sponsoring and engaging with multilateral aid efforts in the public health sector, such as the GAVI Alliance. In parallel, the Minister is keen for China to work closely with GAVI to help its domestic vaccine manufacturers meet international standards.” Dr. Berkley commented, “Both China and India are two countries that need to produce large quantities of vaccines to immunise their very large birth cohorts. GAVI looks forward to working with Chinese manufacturers in producing affordable life-saving vaccines in sufficient quantities to enable their distribution to children throughout Africa and Asia.” GAVI added that “with Chinese vaccine companies growing fast, Minister Chen expressed his confidence in their future capacity to meet large-scale demand. However, the Minister added that the Chinese Government places even greater emphasis on the research and development of new vaccines, with plans to establish a vaccine centre at the national Centre for Disease Control (CDC).”

http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/gavi-features/2012/china-ready-to-expand-collaboration-with-gavi/