Photo: China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS)

China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) on Tuesday warned that some foreign entities have been using academic cooperation and public-interest projects as cover to coax domestic institutions into handing over unapproved biological samples, or to secretly export China’s biological samples through smuggling or false declarations. Such practices could undermine the country’s competitiveness in genetic patents and biopharmaceuticals and, if the samples are exploited for biological weapons or ethnicity-targeted drug research, pose a direct threat to public safety and lives.

Cross-border cooperation in biotechnology can pool global resources and accelerate scientific breakthroughs. Yet if human genetic data, rare biological resources, or core research data are lost, it would expose the foundational assets of the biotechnology sector and could be exploited by hostile foreign forces, creating serious risks to national security in the biological domain, according to an article released by the MSS on its WeChat account on Tuesday. 

Some foreign entities, under the pretext of academic cooperation or public-interest projects, provide funding or equipment to entice domestic institutions into handing over unapproved biological samples. In extreme cases, samples are secretly exported through smuggling or false declarations, according to the ministry.

The ministry noted that genetic data, central to clinical care and biomedical research, hold immense academic, commercial, and social value. Large-scale leaks of population genetic data could allow malicious actors to assess public health conditions, genetic vulnerabilities, and demographic structures, even enabling the creation of a population-level “biological map” to support the development of targeted biotechnological tools.

Modern biological research is highly dependent on digital and automated systems, with sequencing equipment, analytical software, and cloud platforms serving as core tools. Yet some devices or programs developed and maintained by foreign companies may carry hidden “backdoors” embedded at the design stage, forming covert channels for data extraction and directly endangering the security of biological R&D data, according to the ministry’s article. 

China’s biosecurity law imposes strict safeguards on human genetic and biological resources. It prohibits foreign organizations and individuals—or entities they establish or control—from collecting, storing, or exporting China’s human genetic resources. Any provision or opening of related data to foreign parties must be reported in advance to the State Council’s health authority, with data backups submitted. Access to and use of China’s biological resources by foreign parties are permitted only with prior legal approval.
 
The ministry also warned the public that biological data security is a matter of national security, and cross-border cooperation and data transfers in biotechnology must strictly comply with the law. 

Industry professionals should reject illegal data sharing and stay alert to foreign entities that use “research cooperation” as a cover for data theft. Members of the public and researchers who identify data leaks, illegal sample transfers, or other activities posing potential threats to national security should also promptly report them, said the ministry.

Global Times