Advertisement
China, WHO seek ‘stronger collaboration’ on Covid-19 origins probe
- WHO chief says he and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang discussed need for Covid-19 probe ‘rooted in science and evidence’ in meeting on Saturday
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is in Beijing for the Winter Olympics, is visiting China for the first time since the initial days of the pandemic in Wuhan
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
69
China and the World Health Organization have discussed the need for “stronger collaboration” on tracing the origins of Covid-19, amid tensions over the WHO’s plans to further investigate the theory that the virus could have leaked from a Wuhan lab.
This came as WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Saturday, where they also asserted the need to aggressively pursue vaccine equity.
Tedros, who attended the Beijing Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday, is visiting China for the first time since January 2020, after the first Covid-19 cases were reported in the central city of Wuhan.
“Pleased to meet with Premier Li Keqiang,” the WHO director general tweeted on Saturday, alongside a photo of the pair with other officials in a meeting room.
“We discussed Covid-19 and the need for an aggressive effort on vaccine equity this year to vaccinate 70 per cent of all populations.”
And in a follow-up tweet, he said the two leaders “discussed the need for stronger collaboration on Covid-19 virus origins, rooted in science and evidence”.
Advertisement