Dr. Kennedy Malama, Permanent Secretary -Technical Services, Zambia Ministry of Health,

Dr. Coumba Mar Gadio, UN Resident Coordinator,

Dr. Nathan Bakyaita, WHO Country Representative,

Dr Rodgers Mwale, UNICEF Country Representative,

Ladies and gentlemen，

Good Afternoon！

It is a great pleasure to be here to witness the arrival of 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and matched 102,400 syringes donated by the government of the People's Republic of China to the government of the Republic of Zambia , which is another important embodiment of the all-weather friendship and unity of the Chinese and Zambian governments and people in fighting against the pandemic!

In May，2021, President Xi Jinping announced the five initiatives of China to support global solidarity and epidemic prevention at the global health summit, including the establishment of a new international forum on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation, and the discussion of the fair and reasonable distribution of global vaccine equality by vaccine development countries, enterprises and stakeholders.

On August 5, 2021, or just two days ago, Chinese State Councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi chaired the first meeting of the New International Forum on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation. The meeting agreed that COVID-19 pandemic is a common challenge facing the world. We should uphold the concept of human health community, uphold the supremacy of the people and the supremacy of life, and unite to cope with the challenges of the pandemic. It emphasizes the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine as a global public product, and calls on all parties to continue their efforts to achieve the accessibility and affordability of the vaccine in developing countries, and provide vaccines to these countries, especially the least developed countries, as far as possible.

In a written speech to the first meeting of the New International Forum on COVID-19 vaccine, President Xi Jinping announced that China will strive to provide two billion doses of vaccine to worldwide all this year round, and to donate 100 million US dollars to COVAX facility to allocate vaccines to developing countries. This is another major measure for China to implement its commitment to global public goods for vaccines, and will also make new contributions to global anti-epidemic cooperation.

COVID-19 pandemic is still a pressing matter of the moment. The virus is still in the process of variation and the pandemic is still in the process of fast evolving. In the contest between human and virus, vaccination is very important. At present, the problems of insufficient global COVID-19 vaccine production capacity, uneven distribution and unbalanced vaccination are still prominent. Many countries, especially developing countries, still face special difficulties and challenges in obtaining vaccines and combating epidemic diseases. Statistics show that less than 2% of the global vaccines have been vaccinated on the African continent, and only around 1% of the population in low-income countries have been vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

In line with the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, China, faced with the great needs of domestic mass vaccination, has strengthened cooperation with the international community, and has done its best to provide vaccines to the world, especially developing countries. Since September 2020, COVID-19 vaccines have been and are being donated to more than 100 countries and exported to more than 60 countries, with a total amount of more than 770 million doses. The goal of our government is to make the vaccine truly a global public product, truly a vaccine for the people of the world, and help the world overcome the epidemic as soon as possible.

At present, Zambia is experiencing the third wave of the pandemic. We highly appreciate the strong control measures taken by the Zambian government against the third wave, which has significantly reduced the number of new cases and deaths compared with the peak. At the same time, we are also pleased to see the positive and fruitful efforts made by the Zambian government in balancing epidemic control and social economic development.

China is actively promoting the COVID-19 vaccine as an important measure to fight against the pandemic. We sincerely thank Zambian Government for supporting the vaccination of Chines Nationals here in Zambia, and we have already completed vaccination to them as planned based on informed consent and voluntary. We hope that the donation of vaccine and syringes today will help Zambia's anti-epidemic efforts.

To effectively fight against this pandemic, we must unite and cooperate. We cherish the traditional friendship with Zambian Government and people. We are willing to work together with WHO, UNICEF, and other international partners in Zambia, to strengthen all-round cooperation with the Zambian government and people, especially in fighting against COVID-19, including the cooperation on vaccine. We believe that through our joint efforts, we will be able to win the battle in the near future.