by Andreas Rinke
BEIJING (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Friday a deal allowing expatriates in China to use Germany’s BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and pressed Beijing to allow the vaccine to be manufactured at no cost to Chinese citizens.
In his first stop in China since becoming chancellor and first through a G7 leader since the pandemic, Scholz said China and Germany have other approaches to fighting the virus but have a joint duty to him.
BioNTech, which partnered with US drugmaker Pfizer Inc for the pandemic, is believed to be the first non-Chinese coronavirus vaccine to be administered in China, as Beijing has so far insisted on administering locally produced vaccines.
BioNTech shares rose 5% after the announcement.
A BioNTech spokesman told Reuters that vaccines destined for the Chinese market would first be imported.
The two countries “agreed to cooperate in fighting the pandemic,” Scholz said at a press conference alongside Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
“This also includes an approval of the BioNTech vaccine for expatriates in China. Of course, this can only be a first step. I hope the circle of other eligible individuals will soon be able to expand to a loose general capability of the BioNTech vaccine. “Scholz said.
The announcement comes amid rumors that Beijing will soon lift its strict COVID-19 lockdown policies, although there has been no official announcement about it.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Kirsti Knolle and Hans Seidenstuecker; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Miranda Murray)
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