US House committee moves quickly to approve bill limiting business with Chinese biotech firms
- The bill would prevent federal agencies from contracting with five Chinese biotech companies – BGI Group, MGI, Complete Genomics, Wuxi AppTec, and Wuxi Biologics
- The object is to push US firms to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing and research due to national security concerns surrounding China’s biotech industry
Bipartisan legislation that would restrict US business with world-leading Chinese biotech companies and their subsidiaries was approved by a House of Representatives committee on Wednesday.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability passed the bill 40-1. To become law, the bill must pass the full House and Senate, then be signed by the president.
The bill, introduced on Friday, would prevent federal agencies from contracting with five Chinese biotech companies – BGI Group, MGI, Complete Genomics, Wuxi AppTec, and Wuxi Biologics – and their clients, and establish an inter-agency process for identifying additional companies.
The legislation is intended to push US firms to decrease their reliance on Chinese manufacturing and research in light of national security concerns surrounding China’s biotech industry.
Sponsored by Representative Brad Wenstrup, Republican of Ohio, the bill is also supported by the top Republican and Democrat on the House select committee on China, John Moolenaar of Michigan and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.
“US taxpayer dollars should not be funding PRC biotech companies that are actively working with the [Chinese Communist Party] and the People’s Liberation Army to potentially collect Americans’ genomic data and intellectual property and use that data to further their authoritarian objectives,” Krishnamoorthi said on Wednesday.
