The first Greater Bay Area Vaccine Summit was held over the weekend in Shenzhen as a key initiative to explore new paths in bolstering vaccine innovation and public health.

Nearly 300 guests including experts, regulators, and corporate executives discussed at the conference the new developments, strategies and practice in global vaccine research, approval, use and management, with an aim to seek positive solutions to foster innovative vaccines to benefit public health.

"China's achievements in its immunization program in recent years have been highly praised by the international community. China has effectively controlled vaccine-preventable infectious diseases by implementing immunization policies," said Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission and president of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association.

"We are committed to leveraging the immunization program to continuously improve people's health. We must persist in accelerating vaccine innovation in accordance with laws and regulations, and give full play to the important role of vaccines in protecting people's health and ensuring social and economic stability," he said.

To cater to new needs in public health, the expert committee of the Greater Bay Area Vaccine Summit has launched an initiative on accelerating vaccine innovation and improving the capacity to prevent and control infectious diseases under the support of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association.

The initiative proposes to upgrade the immunization program, to allow innovative vaccines to cover the entire population, and to improve protection of specific populations. These efforts will be the key to addressing public health challenges and delivering the Healthy China 2030 initiative.

Vaccines are now widely seen as the "final solution" against pandemics as they help train people's immune system to recognize and combat pathogens, according to experts at the conference. However, as viruses constantly mutate, countries across the world are exploring solutions to accelerate vaccine innovation.

In December, China approved its first vaccine management law to specify market standards, ensure vaccine quality and gradually eliminate outdated products.

In March, 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation unveiled the updated drug registration rules, paving the way for innovative vaccines to be reviewed and approved more quickly.

"All these policies, laws and regulations provide more possibilities for vaccine innovation, as well as unprecedented opportunities for China to build a well-established public health system," said Wang Chen, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and president of the Peking Union Medical College.

"The Greater Bay Area Vaccine Summit is a timely move to grasp new opportunities and leverage innovation to safeguard the health of all human beings. Accelerating vaccine innovation is also a preferred option to help control the current and future infectious diseases and respond to potential pandemics," he added.

Liang Xiaofeng, vice president and secretary-general of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, said :"The summit marks an achievement of the Sino-French economic summit in November last year, and also a key initiative under Sino-French strategic collaboration on vaccine innovation between the Shenzhen government and Sanofi Pasteur."