A medical worker shows a vial of China's Sinovac COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Ministry of Information in Phnom Penh on April 1, 2021. (TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP)

BOAO - China is expected to produce more than 3 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses this year, an official said Tuesday.

The country's current production capacity is around 5 billion vaccine doses annually, said Zheng Zhongwei, head of the working group for vaccine development under the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19.

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Speaking at a sub-forum of the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference, Zheng said that, when the outbreak happened, China immediately focused on research and development for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The country chose to conduct research work on 12 types of vaccines from 10 research units across the country, Zheng said.

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China will supply more vaccines globally in the latter half of 2021, he added.