[ad_1]
A powerful U.S. House of Representatives committee on Thursday called for sweeping restrictions on foreign investment in Chinese biotechs as it pushes ahead with legislation that would restrict the biotech industry’s operations in the U.S. market.
The hearing held by the House Select Committee on Competition with China comes after a Senate committee on Wednesday proposed a companion bill that would prohibit U.S. federally funded agencies from contracting with certain Chinese biotechnology providers. The meeting was held in response to an 11-1 vote.
The bill lists genomics service provider BGI Group and biopharmaceutical company Wuxi AppTec as companies of concern, along with their subsidiaries and direct affiliates.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Find your answers with SCMP Knowledge. SCMP Knowledge is a new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyzes and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
“All the value flowing to Chinese biotech and genetic science companies is [Chinese Communist Party] And that [People’s Liberation Army]” said Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, chairman of the select committee.
“We have to assume that we have to act accordingly and we have to cut off this flow of support,” Gallagher added. “American companies need to take off their golden blinders and realize that there are no truly private companies in China.”
The bipartisan bill, the BioSecure Act, introduced in January by Gallagher and Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s ranking member, would allege BGI Group and Wuxi AppTec have ties to the Chinese military. claims.
Krishnamoorthi said Thursday that China could use biotechnology to “potentially harm Americans” and that the country would “give human soldiers biologically enhanced capabilities.” ” experiment and “gather large amounts of genetic data from Americans.”
The White House last week issued an executive order aimed at preventing “countries of concern” such as China and Russia from accessing vast amounts of sensitive personal data about Americans and U.S. government officials.
“We need to draw a line in the sand and ensure that biotech innovations reflect our values,” Krishnamoorthi said at the hearing. “This means holding bad actors accountable and imposing foreign investment regulations. [Chinese Communist Party]Affiliated biotechnology companies. ”
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, called the allegations of genetic data theft “baseless” and called it “another example of the US fabricating excuses and using all means to suppress Chinese companies.” .
“China is firmly opposed,” Liu said Thursday. “The U.S. side must respect fundamental facts, abandon ideological bias, stop abusing various excuses to unfairly suppress Chinese enterprises, and treat Chinese enterprises fairly, justly and non-discriminatively in their business operations. should be provided.”
Meanwhile, witnesses at Thursday’s hearing called on the U.S. government to step up strategic support for the U.S. biotech sector to maintain its lead and outcompete China.
Chinese biotech company Wuxi AppTec denies having any human genomics business or collecting human genome data. Photo: Reuters alt=Chinese biotech company Wuxi Uptech has denied having any human genomics business or collecting human genome data. Photo: Reuters>
“What is needed is what the nation needs to accomplish through biotechnology, and how the government and private sector can maintain U.S. economic competitiveness and protect U.S. power in this age of biology.” A clear vision of how we can work together,” Tara O’Toole testified. venture capital firm In-Q-Tel;
Still, Jason Kelly, CEO of synthetic biology company Gingo Bioworks, sees opportunities for strategic Sino-American cooperation, such as building a global oversight system to prevent the weaponization of biotechnology. Said it exists.
Both the House and Senate bills have a long way to go before becoming law, and further changes are possible.
However, clear bipartisan, bicameral support for the bill triggered a sell-off in Wuxi and BGI-related stocks in Hong Kong and mainland Chinese capital markets.
The Senate bill, which passed a committee vote Wednesday, was amended to exempt existing contracts and agreements.
Nevertheless, the bill mentions Wuxi and BGI over the objections of businesses. It is not yet clear when the bill will come to the Senate floor for a vote.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, Wuxi Chairman Ge Li said: “We strongly oppose such pre-emptive and unwarranted designations without due process, and we strongly believe that Wuxi AppTec has not and has not raised them.” Does not pose a security risk to other countries. ”
“We also reiterate that Wuxi AppTec does not engage in human genomics business or collect human genome data,” Li added.
The Shanghai-based company generated more than 60% of its revenue from its U.S. operations in the first half of 2023, according to an interim report.
BGI said the U.S. market accounts for a relatively small portion of its revenue. The company said its U.S. subsidiary primarily provides scientific research services, and its business operations comply with U.S. personal privacy and data security regulations, according to Chinese media outlet Cailian.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative news organization on China and Asia for more than a century. For more stories from SCMP, explore the SCMP app or visit SCMP on Facebook. twitter page. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link
