BEIJING -- More than 1.18 million overseas Chinese in more than 150 countries have been inoculated with Chinese or foreign vaccines against COVID-19, a foreign ministry spokesperson said recently.

"Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak, the safety and health of overseas Chinese nationals have been close to the heart of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government," Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Thursday.

"On March 7, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the launch of the 'spring sprout' program," he noted when asked about the progress of the vaccination program targeted for overseas Chinese nationals.

"In the meantime, the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting the safety and health of foreign nationals in China," he said, adding "so far, more than 200,000 foreign nationals have been vaccinated in China."