TOKYO -- Chinese-made vaccines have become a major part of the world's race to immunize people against COVID-19. The jabs -- 1 billion doses exported to 109 countries and territories as of September -- have saved lives and helped President Xi Jinping portray China as a "responsible power."
But Beijing has talked much less about lingering questions over the shots' efficacy, the transparency of its clinical trial data and political strings that may be attached to the shipments.
China's vaccine diplomacy is a complex tale involving feats of both production and propaganda. Above all, China has tried to use its vaccine contributions to scrub away the stigma of COVID-19's emergence in the central Chinese city of Wuhan -- and the still unanswered riddle over the origin of the novel coronavirus.
This is an in-depth look at what China has done to help vaccinate the world, and how it has promoted its interests in the process. Explore the full story here.
