New Zealand Prime Minister calls on APEC members to promote global access to the new crown vaccine

　　Xinhua News Agency, Wellington, July 17 (Reporter Lu Huaiqian and Li Huizi) The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Informal Meeting was held on the 16th to discuss the health and economic crisis caused by the new crown epidemic and response measures.

New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern called on APEC members to promote the global accessibility of the new crown vaccine and commit to providing the vaccine to everyone as soon as possible.

　　This meeting should be held this year at the initiative of New Zealand, the host of APEC, with the theme of "How to seize opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region under the background of the new crown epidemic, cooperate to respond to the health crisis, accelerate economic recovery, and lay a better foundation for future development."

　　The meeting issued an APEC Leaders' Statement entitled "Overcoming the Impact of the Epidemic and Accelerating Economic Recovery".

The statement said that the epidemic continues to affect the people and economy of the region.

All parties recognize the role of vaccines as a global public product for widespread inoculation. To this end, they will accelerate the expansion of vaccine production and supply, support global vaccine sharing, and encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technology in accordance with the terms agreed by both parties.

　　Ardern said in the opening speech of the meeting that this is the first time in the history of APEC that a special meeting has been convened in response to the epidemic.

The epidemic affects APEC members in different forms, but everyone faces the same fundamental challenge. The negative impact of the epidemic on the economy will last for a long time.

Although the new crown vaccine has brought hope for us to deal with the epidemic, the continuous wave of infections and new virus variants have caused continuous challenges to the Asia-Pacific health response system.

Ardern called on all members to work together to deal with the epidemic and recover the economy, so as to tide over the crisis as soon as possible.

　　At the press conference after the meeting, Ardern said that the discussions at the meeting went beyond "vaccine nationalism" and focused on all aspects of vaccine production, sharing and use, hoping to contribute to global vaccination.

She believes that the acquisition and use of global vaccines will provide a strong momentum for rapid economic recovery and will provide more stability to the global economy.