vaccine Photo:VCG

China's first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine production plant will be built in Yuxi, southwestern China's Yunnan province, which is expected to produce 120 million doses of the vaccine per year when the plant is completed.

The mRNA vaccine, called ARcoVax, is co-developed by Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Suzhou ABOGEN and Yunnan Walvax Biotechnology CO. The staff of Walvax told Global Times that a ground-breaking ceremony was held on Monday. 

The share price of the company surged 5 percent following the release of the information. 

ARcoVax vaccine was approved by the National Medical Products Administration of China on June 19, 2020 to go into clinical trials. It has performed well across in safety and immunogenicity indicators.

According to a report released by WHO, six China-developed COVID-19 vaccines have entered Phase III clinical trials, which used techniques including mRNA, inactivate virus and protein subunit. 

Media reports suggested that mRNA vaccines have the highest protection rate of 95 percent among all the vaccines entered the phase III clinical trial. "The mRNA vaccine requires high-standard production techniques, only a few companies in Germany and US have the core technology," said Li Yunchun, the chairman of Walvax. 

The vaccine plant project has received 280 million yuan ($43 million) in investment and will be completed within eight months. "It is expected to begin supplying vaccines in the latter half of 2021," said Li.