Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- China is ready to cooperate with Uzbekistan on coronavirus vaccine trials. This became known during a meeting recently held in Beijing between the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the PRC Bakhtiyor Saidov and Chairman of the Board of the Sinopharm Group Liu Jingzhen.

The talks were held as part of the implementation of the agreements reached during the telephone conversation between the heads of the two states Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Xi Jinping on 7 May 2020 on the joint fight against the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection.

During the meeting with the head of the Sinopharm Group, the prospects for bilateral cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of projects for the processing of medicinal plants and the production of medicines in Uzbekistan were discussed.

Liu Jingzhen said that two phases of clinical trials of two coronavirus vaccines have been successfully completed so far. These are inactivated and recombinant vaccines that have been developed by one of the Sinopharm Group divisions, the China National Biotec Group (CNBG).

The duration of the inactivated vaccine after injection is 2 years or more. To date, more than 50 thousand people have been vaccinated on the territory of the PRC. For the purpose of mass production of vaccines, the construction of the second large plant in Beijing was completed in July 2020, thanks to which the country's production capacity was doubled to 200 million doses per year. The first factory was built in Wuhan city.

According to Liu Jingzhen, the third final phase of clinical trials among the population in the PRC has recently begun. At the same time, tests will be carried out in the UAE as part of cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, in which about 15,000 people will take part. Taking this into account, the head of the corporation proposed to conduct similar tests on the territory of Uzbekistan.

During the talks, an agreement was reached to strengthen cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 and cooperation in the pharmaceutical field. The Chinese company expressed its readiness to act as an investment partner for a number of promising joint projects on the territory of pharmaceutical industrial zones created in recent years in Uzbekistan.

"Sinopharm Group" was founded in 1998. Today it is the largest pharmaceutical company in the PRC, which owns more than 1400 subsidiaries, employing over 200 thousand employees. In 2019, its total revenues amounted to almost US$72 billion, according to which the Chinese company is ranked 169th on the Fortune Global 500. Sinopharm Group has allocated over US$140 million for research and development of vaccines.

For the treatment of diseases caused by the coronavirus, Sinopharm produces 91 types of drugs, which have a 94% positive effect. The corporation has also developed its own tests to determine COVID-19, which are widely used in China and the world in general.