China said on March 7 that it would be issuing "health certificates" - an apparent first step to a global health passport - to allow for international travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country is also open to working with the International Olympic Committee to immunise athletes taking part in the sporting event.

It would also be setting up regional vaccination sites to inoculate its citizens overseas, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at his annual press conference.

"We will introduce an international health certificate... and launch the Chinese version of an international electronic health travel document," he said, which will allow for the verification of nucleic acid tests and vaccination records.

Mr Wang did not go into details about which countries would be included and whether travellers holding the document would still have to undergo quarantine upon entering China.

Beijing will also be launching operation "Spring Seed" - an initiative to vaccinate citizens outside China, using both Chinese and foreign-made vaccines.

Beijing has provided free doses to 69 developing countries where it is urgently needed. It is also exporting vaccines to 43 countries.

China now has 17 vaccines in clinical trials but only three - by SinoPharm, Sinovac and CanSino - have been approved for emergency use domestically.