BEIJING, June 18 (NNN-XINHUA) – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday chaired the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 in Beijing.
The summit, held via video link, was jointly proposed by China, South Africa, the rotating chair of the African Union (AU), and Senegal, the co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Leaders of African countries, including members of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and rotating chairs of major African sub-regional organizations, and the chairperson of the AU Commission, attended the summit.
The secretary-general of the United Nations and the director-general of the World Health Organization also attended the meeting as special guests.
Xi promised to give priority to African countries once COVID-19 vaccines are ready to use.
Vaccines for the deadly coronavirus are still being worked on without an effective result just yet, although other forms of treatments are being tested on patients.
China is also at the forefront of working on a vaccine for the virus which first broke out there.
President Xi is said to have told the China-Africa summit that his country will ensure that African countries don’t get muscled out in accessing vaccines when available. — NNN-XINHUA
