China is conducting clinical trials of 11 vaccines against the coronavirus disease, four of which are in phase 3, the country’s Science and Technology Minister Wang Zhigang said on Friday.

“At the moment, 11 vaccines have entered the phase of clinical trials, four of them are already in phase 3,” Wang said while speaking at the Zhongguancun forum in Beijing.

According to the minister, Chinese researchers focused on the development of five types of COVID-19 vaccine at once.

The vaccines are a recombinant protein subunit vaccine, an inactivated vaccine, an adenoviral vector-based vaccine, a nucleic acid-based vaccine, and a live attenuated influenza vaccine.

“The COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread around the world, it has not yet been taken under full control, and with the arrival of the autumn-winter season, there is still a possibility of a return to what it was initially.

“The situation in the prevention and control of the epidemic remains serious.

“The virus knows no boundaries, we need to join forces, provide each other with assistance and support in order to overcome difficulties together,” Wang said.

One of the Chinese vaccines is being developed by China National Biotec Group, which said earlier in September that around 50,000 people from several countries were participating in Phase 3 clinical trials.

Another vaccine, which is also in Phase 3 of the trials, was created by Sinovac, which is testing the vaccine in several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, and Indonesia.

 Similarly, China is leading in the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 and thus Beijing does not need to steal vaccine-related data from other countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday,

Wang said this while commenting on media reports claiming that Chinese hackers had allegedly stolen data on coronavirus vaccine development from Spain.

Earlier in the day, El Pais newspaper reported, citing sources informed about cyberattacks, that hackers from China had allegedly stolen information from Spanish centers working on coronavirus vaccine.

According to the publication, cyberattacks targeting research centers were carried out from several countries, mostly from Russia and China, and in the case of Spain, it is known that the hackers had acted precisely from China.

“China strongly opposes and fights against all forms of cyberattacks and cybercrime, and this position is clear and unchanging.

“I would also like to add that China is one of the world leaders in [anti-coronavirus] vaccine research and development.

“We do not see any need for any illegal means to obtain a vaccine,” Wang said.

According to the spokesman, cyberattacks are the common enemy of all countries, and China hopes that other countries will not draw so many reckless and irresponsible conclusions if they do not have any evidence.

At the same time, Spanish scientists are now working on dozens of vaccines against COVID-19, with none of them having entered the clinical trial stage yet.