File photo: CGTN

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- China has approved two COVID-19 inactivated vaccine candidates for clinical trials, according to the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against the coronavirus Tuesday.

The two vaccine candidates are developed by Wuhan Institute of Biological Products under the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd, a company based in Beijing. Clinical trials of the two vaccines have started.

The two vaccines are China's first batch of COVID-19 inactivated vaccines that have obtained clinical trial approval. Using killed pathogenic microorganisms for enhancing the immunogenicity, the vaccines have advantages of mature production process, controllable quality standards and wide protection range.

They can be used for large-scale vaccination, and their safety and effectiveness can by judged by internationally accepted standards.

China has laid a solid foundation for research in inactivated vaccines, which has been widely used to fight hepatitis A, influenza, hand-foot-and-mouth disease and poliomyelitis.

The vaccine developers have the capacity for large-scale production and are ready for the vaccines' emergency use according to relevant laws and regulations.