Liu (left) and Al Khalifa hold a meeting. [Photo/sinopharm.com] 

Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, crown prince and prime minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, recently met with Liu Jingzhen, chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd (Sinopharm), in Manama, Bahrain.

The prince emphasized the importance of international coordination in tackling global health challenges. He highly praised the collaborative efforts between Bahrain and Sinopharm in safeguarding people’s health, and expressed gratitude to Sinopharm for conducting phase-3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccines in Bahrain. He stated that all parties in the country, including the Bahraini government, will continue to support the medical cooperation.

Liu expressed his gratitude to the prince for his strong support for the cooperation between Sinopharm and Bahrain. He also appreciated the constructive role played by Bahrain in improving human health. He said he hopes that both parties will continue to strengthen cooperation and to jointly care for human life and health.

To commend Sinopharm for its outstanding contributions to Bahrain's fight against the pandemic, the prince awarded Liu the Prince Salman bin Hamad Medal for Medical Merit.

The prince awards Liu the medal. [Photo/sinopharm.com] 

Liu also briefed the prince on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and presented him with a commemorative album about the history of the CPC.

Xiao Peng, CEO of G42, a tech firm, Zhu Jingjin, president of the biological products division at Sinopharm, and Zhang Yuntao, Sinopharm chief scientist, attended the meeting. 

The prince at the phase 3 clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccines as a volunteer. [Photo/sinopharm.com] 

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, China and Bahrain started cooperation. China shared its experience in disease prevention, control and treatment with Bahrain, and provided support to Bahrain in procuring medical supplies from China.

Sinopharm conducted an international phase-3 clinical trial for inactivated COVID-19 vaccines in Bahrain.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister Al Khalifa was injected with Sinopharm's first batch of COVID-19 vaccines as a volunteer on Sept 16, 2020.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister Al Khalifa had a video conference with Liu to discuss clinical trials of the vaccine and collaboration in the fight against the pandemic on Sept 17, 2020.

Bahrain approved emergency use of Sinopharm's inactivated COVID-19 vaccine on Nov 3, 2020. On the same day, the Bahraini government administered the vaccine to some frontline healthcare workers.

Bahrain approved the registration of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine on Dec 13, 2020, becoming one of the first countries in the world to do so. The official statement mentioned that this decision was based on the clinical trial data obtained from various countries and the evaluation of the data by multiple authoritative bodies.

Bahrain's health authorities announced on Aug 17, 2021 that Sinopharm vaccines will be administered for all children in the country aged from 3 to 11 with complications and weakened immune systems. The use of the vaccine in the age group of 12-17 has also been approved.

Sinopharm and the Bahrain Ministry of Health signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement for joint drug research and development and technical collaboration on Dec 4, 2022. According to Bahraini Health Minister Faeqa, the collaboration between Bahrain and China in the fight against the pandemic is a true reflection of the deep-rooted friendship between the two countries. Bahrain said it hopes that further cooperation can be conducted in drug research and development, leveraging Bahrain's advantages to extend the fruits of cooperation to Arab states of the Persian Gulf and African countries.