US slammed for targeting biotech firms

Beijing condemned on Tuesday the so-called Biosecure Act passed by the United States House of Representatives, urging Washington to stop unwarranted oppression against Chinese enterprises.

The bill, passed by 306 to 81 votes on Monday, would prohibit the US government from contracting with, or providing grants to, companies that do business with a "biotechnology company of concern".

It names five Chinese companies — BGI, MGI and its subsidiary Complete Genomics, WuXi AppTec, and WuXi Biologics.

China firmly opposes such discriminatory measures against its companies, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a daily news conference.

Mao urged the US to abandon ideological bias, earnestly respect market principles and trade rules, stop pushing forward the legislation and provide a fair, just and nondiscriminatory business environment for companies from all countries.

China will continue to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its companies, she said, adding that the country also supports its companies in safeguarding their rights and interests in accordance with the law.

The legislation needs to pass the US Senate before it can be sent to US President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The targeted companies have all said the measure is based on false and misleading allegations and would limit competition. They denied posing any threat to US national security and stressed that they do not have access to the personal data of US citizens in their operations.

The act is the latest move by US lawmakers who have already succeeded this year in requiring Chinese-based parent company ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a US ban.

The Biosecure Act is part of a string of China-related bills that the US lawmakers are pushing ahead this week.

In what has been dubbed "China Week", the US House of Representatives is aiming to introduce dozens of bills touching on trade, technology, farm ownership and electric vehicles, in moves to counter China's political, economic and technological influence.