China has decided to join the international collaboration initiative launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat COVID-19, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

On April 24, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced to launch an international collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for COVID-19.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a news briefing that China firmly supports WHO's leading role in global anti-pandemic cooperation, welcomes its global cooperation initiative on accelerating the development, production, and equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for COVID-19, and has decided to participate in this initiative.

She said the virus respects no borders and that people from every country should have equal access to vaccines and medicines.

"After the outbreak of the virus, China immediately shared the genetic information on COVID-19 with other countries, built a sharing platform for data and scientific research results, and carried out international cooperation on the research and development of drugs and vaccines," Hua said.

As the most authoritative and professional international institution on global public health security, the WHO plays an irreplaceable key role in responding to the global public health crisis, Hua said.

"China stands ready to work with the international community to accelerate the research and production of medical products on COVID-19, promote the equitable distribution of related products, and make efforts to maintain global public health security and support the fight against the pandemic," Hua said.

From CGTN