LONDON/BEIJING : President Xi Jinping’s government is throwing the might of the Chinese state behind the country’s vaccine developers as the world races to make a shot against the coronavirus.
The sheer scale and speed of China’s effort ratchets up pressure on the US, where President Donald Trump’s administration has launched a program called Operation Warp Speed to accelerate vaccine research and development.
Xi has promised to share any successful vaccine globally, and the Chinese president would wield immense geopolitical clout if his country produces one of the world’s first working shots.
In total, five vaccines developed by Chinese companies are being tested on humans, the most in any country. Beijing has mobilized its health