Eric's Insight: Yunnan Covid vaccine boosts shared future for China, ASEAN

China is dedicated to promoting a human community with a shared future, noted the report delivered at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Since the US-led western powers initiated the globalization in early 1990s, the world has increasingly evolved into a human community, or rather a “global village”, a term coined in the 1960s by Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian communications theorist.

In the human community or village, the interests of individuals, businesses and states are closely interwoven. Only by working together and sharing benefits to each other, can the humanity live in security and face the multiple challenges brought by pandemics, natural disasters, power politics and other factors.

With the Covid viruses raging across the globe and the Russia-Ukraine conflicts showing signs of upgrades, it’s more than relevant for China to reiterate its commitment to promoting a human community with a shared future. The armed conflicts need to be resolved through peace talks, while the battle against the viruses calls for taking vaccines as public goods.

A boost for China-Indonesia ties

The notion of "a human community with a shared future" was first put forth by Xi Jinping in his 2013 speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations，where he also mentioned that mankind live in the same global village. As for the idea of China-ASEAN community with a shared future, it was also proposed by Xi in the same year in a speech at the Indonesian Parliament.

For years, China has been putting into practice the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. In the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, it has been sharing its Covid control practices with and offering the homegrown vaccines to over 120 countries and international organizations, especially to its neighboring ASEAN countries. So far, it has provided more than 600 million doses of Covid vaccines to ASEAN countries, reported Xinhua on July 1.

“China is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up,” Xi noted at the on-going CPC national congress on October 16. When narrowing the idea down to the province of Yunnan, we can find a recent development related to benefit sharing and community building.

AWcorna, a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine produced by the Yunnan-based Walvax Biotechnology, was approved for emergency use by the Indonesian government, said Walvax on October 9, adding it will cooperate with the Indonesian pharmaceutical company of Etana for local vaccine self-sufficiency.

AWcorna works by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, and individuals who get an mRNA vaccine are not exposed to the virus, according to MedlinePlus, an online service of the US National Library of Medicine. More importantly, the vaccine is relevant to economic growth for it is conducive to a healthy labor force and a stable business environment.

The Indonesian approval of Yunnan vaccine AWcorna is another sign of mutual trust between China and Indonesia, especially the political confidence built up by leaders from the two countries. At the invitation of Xi Jinping, the Indonesian president Joko Widodo visited China in late July, and the leaders discussed on vaccine cooperation. Back in January 2021, Joko Widodo took the lead in using a Chinese Covid vaccine.

The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in Indonesia is granted based on safety, efficacy and immunogenicity, said the Walvax official website. Protective efficacy of AWcorna against symptomatic wild-type SARS-CoV-2 infection was 83.58%, and the efficacy against the Omicron variant was 71.17% in preventing moderate Covid disease.

AWcorna is the first Chinese mRNA vaccine admitted to the overseas market. By sharing its cutting-edge Covid vaccine with Indonesia, Yunnan has played a pioneering role in the building of the China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

A potential role for a shared future

Founded in 2001, Walvax Biotechnology is a leading vaccine producer, engaged in research and development, manufacturing and distribution of safe and efficacious vaccines. It is headquartered in central Yunnan’s city of Kunming.

“Obtaining the Indonesian approval is a remarkable achievement in the commercialization stage of AWcorna,” said Li Yunchun, chairman of Walvax Biotechnology. “As a proprietary vaccine independently developed in China, it is indeed a proof for the effectiveness of our mRNA technology.”

But Walwax shouldn't stop there. Actually, it is expected to take the Indonesian approval as a brand new start for boosting cooperation with the ASEAN countries in Covid vaccines for a shared shield against Omicron and other strains.

Taking AWcorna as a new public goods in the region, Walvax Biotechnology Co, Ltd. should actively contact with businesses pateners in other marine ASEAN nations, such as the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia, so that the future vaccines jointly made by Walvax and Etana will be readily accepted in these Indonesian neighbors.

Meanwhile, it could share its AWcorna vaccine with people in the continental ASEAN countries, or the five Mekong countries of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, three of which belong to Yunnan's immediate neighbors, the most essential for China-ASEAN community building.

Walwax Boitech could also consider joining hands with business partners in Thailand in AWcorna production and popularization. As the relatively developed country on the Indo-China peninsular, Thailand has the potential to be a major supplier of Covid vaccines in the Mekong river basin. It’s time for Walvax to identify a Thai partner.

So far, the ASEAN countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have all signed agreements with China on jointly building up bilateral communities of shared future. Given the increasingly integrated regional economy, the Yunnan vaccine with a tested efficacy can contribute more to the construction of the China-ASEAN community with a shared future, reducing regional Covid spikes and thus ensuring an energetic labour force.

(The writer Eric Wang Shixue is an English editor with the Mekong News Network based in Kunming, Yunnan province. The view in the article does not necessarily represent that of Yunnan Gateway. Also, special thanks go to Mr. Zu Hongbing for his insightful suggestions and corrections. Any mistake in the article is the writer's own.)