China has approved a hepatitis E vaccine, which it claims is the first effective vaccine for the virus.

The vaccine received the certificate for medicine production in December 2011, according to the State Food and Drug Administration.

A team of researchers from Xiamen University and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co. Ltd. in southeast China's Fujian Province worked for 14 years to develop the vaccine, and the 863 program, a government-funded hi-tech industry development initiative, began to sponsor the research in 2005, said a statement released by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The country would offer the vaccine to high-risk members of the population and work with international organizations to introduce it to other countries, the statement said.

The hepatitis E virus is spread by fecal matter via tainted water and food. According to the World Health Organization, one third of the global population is estimated to be at risk of infection by the virus and countries in South and East Asia report about 6.5 million infection cases every year.

In China, incidences of hepatitis E have increased significantly and it has become the most common of all the strains of hepatitis infection reported among adults.