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China has provided 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world, and it can fulfill the 2-billion-dose pledge, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Friday on the sidelines of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).

Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Development Center for Medical Science and Technology of the NHC, said on Friday that China's vaccine manufacturing capacity is about 5 billion doses a year, which can guarantee domestic inoculation needs and global demand. 

China has administered 2.01 billion doses domestically, the highest in the world. The number accounts for 37.6 percent of the world's total and is bigger than the total of those administered in the US, the Europe and India. 

Such an inoculation rate would be impossible without China's own vaccines, Zheng said, citing China's early planning in vaccine research and development. 

According to the World Health Organization, 112 among 297 vaccine candidates have entered clinical trials and 39 are in Phase III clinical trials. China has 11 vaccine candidates in Phase III clinical trials and many in Phase I and II. 

There have been more than 1,700 recorded epidemics in human history. Before vaccines, people died in large numbers to achieve herd immunity but the control strategy has changed a lot with vaccines, Zheng said.

"It is difficult to predict the trend of the pandemic and we are still learning about what role vaccines can play in the process," the official said, noting a firm attitude is important to combat the virus as countries with lax attitudes have paid the price.