China administered about 18 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines on July 30, taking its total to 1.637 billion, data from the National Health Commission shows.

According to Reuters, China is expected to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of target groups by the end of this year, Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, had told the official Xinhua news agency last month, without giving details of the groups.

The world's most populous country, with a population of 1.4b, does not regularly disclose how many people have been fully vaccinated, but late last month a state broadcaster said the nationwide rate had exceeded 40pc.