China has made considerable progress in the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines this year, registering an annual production capacity of 5 billion doses as of July, the country’s top industry regulator said.

Under joint efforts to effectively control the coronavirus epidemic and speed up the production of vaccines, China has witnessed a rapid growth in the production and supply of vaccines this year, Tian Yulong, chief engineer and spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news conference in Beijing.

More than 1.4 billion doses of vaccines have been administered in China, and the country has provided over 500 million doses of vaccines overseas to assist in the global fight against the pandemic, Tian said.

According to Tian, China is able to serve the need for COVID-19 vaccines both at home and abroad with its expanding production capacity.

In the next step, we will…continue to work with relevant departments to organize, coordinate and guide companies to ensure safe and stable production of vaccines, Tian added.

More efforts also will be made to support Chinese pharmaceutical companies in strengthening international cooperation in vaccine production and expanding the accessibility and affordability of vaccines, he said.