German biotech company BioNTech will be supplying Covid-19 vaccines to Hong Kong from Europe in collaboration with Chinese firm Fosun Pharma, instead of US-Swiss giant Pfizer.
Britain became the first Western country to start vaccinating people with an approved vaccine last Tuesday after it granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, made with the new technology mRNA. When Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Friday announced procuring a maximum of 7.5 million doses of vaccine developed by BioNTech in collaboration with mainland biopharmaceutical company Fosun Pharma, she first mentioned Pfizer as a co-supplier.
But in a statement that night, the government said the shots to be supplied to Hong Kong will only be in collaboration with Fosun Pharma. Pfizer's absence sparked speculation that the BioNTech shots will be manufactured on the mainland, unlike those supplied to the United States, which are made in Pfizer plants in Michigan and Wisconsin. On Saturday night, the government clarified that the shots to be supplied to Hong Kong will be manufactured in Europe and that the first batch of one million doses is expected to be delivered in the first quarter at the earliest.
While Fosun Pharma is responsible for clinical trials, regulatory applications, sales and marketing of the jabs in China, the injections will be provided by BioNTech. BioNTech has said that its partnership with Pfizer is worldwide, except in China. The German company partnered with the US-Swiss giant Pfizer in research and development of the mRNA-based vaccine, which was funded by the German government. The production of mRNA vaccines requires specialized know-how, in which BioNTech has developed significant expertise in the field over the past 12 years. Producing the vaccines in Europe leads to another question on logistics, as the 95 percent effective BioNTech vaccines must be transported and stored in ultra-cold cargoes of minus-70 degrees Celsius, to which authorities said Fosun has entered discussion with logistics and cold-storage companies, as well as the Airport Authority on necessary arrangements. To get enough vaccines to cover the whole population, the government has secured another 7.5 million shots from Sinovac (Hong Kong) Ltd. They will be produced in Beijing and the first batch of one million will arrive next month at the earliest. 辉瑞拒绝向中国提供疫苗?复星医药已抢占在中国的独家权利! 新冠疫苗上市在即，各药企快马加鞭部署采购分销计划。财新记者近日从多位消息人士处获悉，复星医药已开始从航空货运服务商处订购运力，计划从明年1月份开始将BioNTech德国工厂生产的新冠疫苗运往中国，按目前已知的部分运输计划，明年上半年的月均运输量为120万剂，整个上半年的总运输量暂定为720万剂。目前多家航空公司正在为承运该疫苗做准备。 对此，复星医药内部人士称，这一数据并不准确。“这可能只是部分物流供应商获得的运力需求，并不是总体的运输量。” 11月19日，辉瑞公司和BioNTech公司率先发布全球首个新冠疫苗研发成果，III期临床试验数据显示，其研发的mRNA疫苗BNT162b2对接种人群的保护率达到95%，并未出现与疫苗相关的严重安全问题；另一款由Moderna公司研发的mRNA疫苗也呈现良好效果，III期临床试验结果显示，该疫苗有效性达94.1%，对重症新冠的预防效果则为100%。 该款新冠疫苗在国内的合作伙伴是复星医药。今年3月，复星医药成为BioNTech在中国的战略合作伙伴，共同在中国开发、商业化基于其专有的 mRNA 技术平台研发的、针对新型冠状病毒的疫苗产品。
World Economic Forum to host Summer Davos in Tianjin after delay
This year's Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum in Tianjin — which was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — will unfold next summer in the city, the head of the World Economic Forum in China said. The WEF is working with the National Development and Reform Commission to set a date for next year for what is widely known as Summer Davos, according to David Aikman, who is also the organization's managing director. Aikman also noted that the WEF will stage the Winter Davos in Singapore in May. That event is normally held early each year in Switzerland. The WEF is teaming up with the NDRC and foreign companies to hold a research meeting in Tianjin , after a visit to Dalian earlier this week. Dalian has hosted Summer Davos in a biennial rotation with Tianjin since 2007. Li Bin, an official of the NDRC's international collaboration department said the commission has with the WEF since October to help foreign companies conduct study tours in China's top foreign investment destinations. 世界经济论坛赴天津开展联合调研活动 12月9日上午，国家发展改革委与世界经济论坛联合召开政企交流会。国际司李斌巡视员表示，天津是2020年年内国家发展改革委和世界经济论坛联合组织赴地方开展政企交流活动的最后一站，主要考虑天津拥有独特的区位、产业、港口、交通等优势，拥有改革开放先行区、金融创新运营示范区、自由贸易试验区、国家自主创新示范区等先行先试的优越条件。天津作为夏季达沃斯论坛轮流举办地之一，与世经论坛有着良好合作基础。相信通过本次调研活动，天津将进一步展现全方位优势，吸引更多跨国企业投资天津，推动高端产业发展，实现互利共赢。 艾德维表示，近年来，天津在创新发展方面取得巨大成就，是第四次工业革命的先锋模式城市，在发展经济和推动新型基础设施建设之间寻找到了很好的平衡。跨国企业代表们纷纷发言，介绍在天津的投资情况、政策支持诉求及下一步投资计划。
Chinese retailer giant Suning pledges all shares to Alibaba’s Taobao
All shares of Suning Holdings Group held by chairman Zhang Jindong, his son Zhang Kangyang, and Nanjing Runxian have been pledged to Taobao, Alibaba’s ecommerce platform, according to the Chinese government’s credit information agency. The pledge amounts to a total of 100,000 shares that are worth 1 billion yuan (US$153 million). A large part of these shares – 51,000 – will come from the group’s founder Zhang Jindong. He also pledged 65,000 shares in the group’s subsidiary, Suning Real Estate, to Taobao. However, the report did not disclose the total percentage of Suning’s shares that are pledged to Alibaba’s Taobao. Promoters of companies use pledging of shares as an options to secure loans to meet working capital requirement, personal needs and fund other ventures or acquisitions. They use the shareholding in a company as collateral to avail a loan.
In 2015, Alibaba invested US$4.6 billion in the retail group for a 19.99% stake, while Suning in turn invested US$2.1 billion to acquire 1.1% in the ecommerce giant. Following the new development, the share of Suning.com sunk to 8.03 yuan (US$1.2) in the morning of Friday, the lowest price since September 2014, the report said. After the deal materializes, the Ningjing-based group would retain a 3.98% stake in its core asset, Suning E-buy. Suning is well known as an offline-to-online retail service provider in China, selling consumer electronic products and home appliances. 苏宁全部股权质押给淘宝 有最新消息称，张近东、张康阳等将苏宁控股集团全部股权质押给了淘宝。 张近东为苏宁控股集团创始人和董事长，也是苏宁电器集团和上市公司苏宁易购的主要股东，而张康阳为张近东的儿子。 天眼查信息显示，苏宁控股集团股东张近东、张康阳及南京润贤企业管理中心（有限合伙）已于2020年12月4日将公司全部股权出质给淘宝（中国）软件有限公司，合计出质股权数额10亿元人民币，与苏宁控股集团的注册资本金额等同。