China's Walvax Biotechnology has recruited most of the 28,000 participants needed for a large clinical trial of its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine candidate, a senior company official said.

China has yet to approve a Chinese vaccine of the novel messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and has yet to import a foreign mRNA vaccine.

From next week, a Phase III trial for Walvax's potential mRNA vaccine will shift its focus from recruiting participants to identifying potential Covid-19 infections for data analysis, Walvax vice chairman Huang Zhen said.

The ARCoV vaccine, which Walvax co-developed with Suzhou Abogen Biosciences and a Chinese military-backed research institution, is being tested in a Phase III trial across countries including China, Mexico and Indonesia.