The US Senate recently passed a bill aimed at prohibiting contracts with Chinese biotech providers, including BGI Group, MGI, and Complete Genomics. This move is part of Washington’s broader efforts to increase restrictions on Chinese companies in the field of new medicine under the pretext of national security.
US Senator Bill Hagerty accused Chinese companies, including BGI and WuXi AppTec, of seeking to dominate the US biotech market while collecting sensitive medical data from Americans and transferring it to China for potentially malicious purposes.
He alleged that these companies, which he described as “highly-subsidized Chinese Communist Party-directed,” pose a threat to American interests.
Chinese Biotech Firm (Credits: Fortune)
In response, BGI Group stated that while it supports the bill’s aim of protecting Americans’ personal data, driving BGI out of the US, as the bill intends, would not achieve this goal since BGI does not have access to such data.
The company criticized the bill for limiting competition and strengthening market monopolies in the human genome sequencing field.
WuXi AppTec also defended itself, stating that it does not engage in human genomics business or collect human genomic data as part of its operations. The company emphasized that it has no affiliation with any government or military organizations.
Chinese observers have criticized US politicians for portraying China as an “imagined enemy” and using this as a pretext to crackdown on Chinese biotech and new-energy vehicle companies. They argue that such actions hinder the two countries’ normal economic and trade relations.
Despite efforts to improve dialogue between China and the US, the US’s actions are seen as hindrances to normal trade. Chinese experts urge the US to correct its approach and avoid politicizing economic issues.
China has also responded to these accusations, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson stating that China takes data privacy and security seriously and has never asked any company or individual to collect or provide data against local laws.
The spokesperson criticized the US for overstating the concept of national security and falsely accusing China of malicious activities related to data collection.
