Foreword

As part of its broader research program dedicated to China’s global vision and strategy in the Xi Jinping era, the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) identified public health as a key domain in which Beijing is attempting to strengthen its position as a world-class leader. In addition to political and diplomatic activities deployed internationally since 2015 under the Health Silk Road banner,[1] the Chinese leadership has been actively encouraging the development of domestic scientific research and commercial activities in the medical, genomics, neuroscience, and public health domains.

The essays presented in this report examine Beijing’s activities in areas crucial to the future direction of biotech research and discovery and provide insights about the potential future biotech landscape in the context of a deepening geostrategic rivalry between China and the United States. Collectively, they point to the emergence of a comprehensive Chinese techno-industrial biotech ecosystem based on the premise of national security and strategic aims. Ethical asymmetries and strict limitations on what Beijing considers as strategic (and therefore non-sharable) resources could create a set of advantages for China’s pursuit of scientific leadership. The implications of these apparent trends could be profound for areas as diverse as healthcare, climate change mitigation, agriculture, food security, pharmaceutical development, biodefense, neuroscience, brain modeling, and advanced artificial intelligence (AI).

Anna Puglisi describes biotechnology as a new front of the U.S.-China rivalry. The Chinese leadership has identified the sector as a strategic industry and has been increasingly incorporating military and civilian actors, as well as academic and commercial actors, in order to fulfill its plan to transform China into a biotech superpower. Beijing is moving toward building an increasingly integrated interdisciplinary biotech ecosystem. Its determination raises long-range implications for a wide array of sectors, including agronomics, genomics discovery, and precision medicine, as well as for the future rules of the road that will guide the use of emerging biotechnologies.

Caroline Schuerger and Anna Puglisi examine how China has made genomics a national priority and treats its genomic data as a strategic resource by prohibiting external access to its own genomic data. Genetic data processing, facilitated by the rapid development of AI, supports a sprawling Chinese R&D ecosystem fueling the development of wide-ranging applications, including for public health and biodefense, medicine, agriculture, and food security. The Chinese central leadership’s plans for generation, accumulation, and utilization of genetic data are steadily translating into concrete advances, reducing the gap with the United States both in applying current genomic technologies and in developing new capabilities.

Rowan Pierson highlights China’s prioritization of non-human primates (NHPs) as a strategic supply. Beijing is investing substantial resources in expanding its NHP research capacity, which plays a crucial role in producing treatments for human diseases and disorders, generating deeper understanding of the human brain, and shaping the future of emerging technologies such as gene- editing tools and AI. Whereas NHP research in the United States has been stagnant for nearly two decades, with public appeals to end primate research entirely, NHP research in China develops in a friendly and supportive environment. Pierson identifies three main areas of divergence in NHP research between China and the United States: in attitudes, numbers, and regulations. He cautions that China’s approach may facilitate technology transfers and create chokepoints for future U.S. pharmaceutical development, among other critical activities.

Alexis Dale-Huang and Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga examine the growing interest of the People Liberation Army (PLA) in the impact that biological issues could have on China’s national security objectives, military capability, and future wars. The PLA contributes to China’s efforts to position itself as a notable global health player and increase its influence in international global health initiatives. Noting the currently limited understanding of Chinese military thinking on biological security and the military applications of biotechnology, the authors underscore the importance of further research on this topic, including in collaboration with U.S. allies.

NBR would like to extend its special thanks to Rachel Bernstein for her instrumental role in managing the project, as well as Eunwoo Joo, Kanghee Park, Eliot Roberts, and Daniel Schoolenberg for the invaluable research assistance they provided throughout the project’s cycle.

Nadège Rolland
Distinguished Fellow, China Studies, NBR

Endnotes

[1] For further context, see “The Health Silk Road: A Branch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative,” National Bureau of Asian Research, NBR Special Report, no. 113, December 2024.