China is leading the world in developing novel coronavirus vaccine candidates, and it is "absurd" to accuse China of trying to steal US vaccines through cyberattacks, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday.

Hua made the remark at a daily news conference in response to United States Attorney General William Barr's claims on Thursday that "PRC-linked hackers have targeted American universities and firms in a bid to steal IP related to coronavirus treatments and vaccines."

"We have the best researchers. We don't need to steal to get to the leading position," Hua said.

China's research teams have carried out multiple tasks to develop five kinds of vaccines, and Chinese candidate vaccines with independent intellectual property rights have already entered clinical trials, she said.

According to a white paper China released in June to explain its efforts in fighting COVID-19, China had approved four inactivated vaccines and one adenovirus vaccine for clinical trials by then.

China will also continue to work with other countries to strengthen cooperation in vaccine development and distribution so that the world can fend off the pandemic as soon as possible, Hua said.

"China will not act like some countries which seek to monopolize and buy out the vaccines and medicines," she said.

COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment in China, when available, will be made for the global public good, which will be China's contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries, President Xi Jinping said when addressing the 73rd World Health Assembly in May.

Source: China Daily