BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics & Policy

New China regulations on genetic resources underscore flash point in U.S.-China tensions

June 11, 2019 11:38 PM UTC

Access to genomic data is becoming a flash point in geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China as both sides are putting in place measures to restrict and scrutinize access to the data.

As a pair of Republican senators were calling for an HHS probe into CMS genetic testing payments to Chinese-linked companies on Monday, China’s state council issued regulations updating its rules covering the use of human genetic data for the first time in over a decade. The rules, which go into effect on July 1, are mostly in line with draft regulations released by the State Council in 2016. The new rules update regulations put in place in 1998 (see "Border Security for China’s Genomes")...