China expresses support for vaccine patent waiver

China expressed its support for a waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines to help poor countries obtain shots.

"China fully understands and supports the demands of developing countries to waive the intellectual property rights of the COVID-19 vaccine," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday.

The proposal, first brought up by the U.S. earlier this month, is currently being discussed by members of the WTO.

Zhao reaffirmed China's commitment of making vaccines a global public good and called on "capable countries to take concrete actions to support and help developing countries get vaccines."