During a virtual meeting with Latin American foreign affairs ministers on Thursday morning, China announced that its COVID-19 vaccine will be a public good with universal access.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi held a conference with his Latin American colleagues to consolidate cooperation ties, Iramsy Peraza, teleSUR correspondent in Beijing, said.
"Wang Yi announces that the vaccine developed in his country will be a public good of universal access," Mexico's Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who took part in the virtual meeting, tweeted.
The correspondent for teleSUR also reported that Chinese cooperation will even include preferential loans so that Latin American countries can deal with the socio-economic effects of the pandemic.
"China will support the region with medical equipment, loans for vaccines and public health infrastructure works, and funds to guarantee food security," Peraza tweeted.
The Latin American and Caribbean countries will be able to access a US$1 billion loan to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Mexican Foreign Ministry.
Also present at the videoconference were the foreign affairs ministers of Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.