China: 23 million jabs, case numbers fall

China has administered about 22.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the National Health Commission says, as the country steps up its inoculation campaign ahead of next month's Lunar New Year holidays.

The world's most populous nation has widened its scheme since mid-December to include more priority groups facing higher risk of virus exposure, in a bid to prevent any outbreaks in the northern winter and spring.

"Overall, the work is progressing in a smooth and orderly manner," Zeng Yixin, vice director of the National Health Commission, said.

China aims to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year in February, state media Global Times said this month.

The country recorded its lowest daily increase in COVID-19 cases in more than two weeks on Tuesday, suggesting aggressive measures implemented to curb a resurgence of the disease are working.

The National Health Commission said 75 new confirmed cases were reported on January 26, down from 82 a day earlier and the lowest single-day rise since January 11.

Fifty-five of the new cases were locally transmitted, with the remaining 20 classified as imported cases.

More than half the locally transmitted cases were reported in the northeastern Heilongjiang province.

Fourteen cases were reported in neighbouring Jilin province, seven in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, and four in the capital itself.

Authorities across the country have rolled out measures including home quarantine, travel curbs and mass testing in a bid to contain the disease before the Lunar New Year holiday, when hundreds of millions of people usually travel.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 89,272. The death toll remains at 4636.