China will weaponise biotech as it ascends to dominance

Published: 22 Apr 2025

Author: Precedence Research

Share :

The Commission’s report states, the revolution of biotechnology is all set with ChatGPT for the field. Further highlighting China’s “Steal, scale up and strangle” strategy.

‘Steal, scale, and strangle’

The developed world is entering biotechnology, promoting the baseline of biology to innovation, says analytical reports. Almost all sectors, such as energy, healthcare, defense, agriculture, and manufacturing, can be enhanced and advanced by biotechnology, but can also be manipulated. China follows the same technique in the biotech area, just like it did in technology. 

Recommendations for the U.S.

The Commission recommended that the U.S government dedicate a minimum of $15 billion in the next five years to introduce more private capital contributing to the national biotechnology sector. Over more than 1800 stakeholder consultations commission bifurcated and listed out several top priority recommendations to the U.S government. The concern is to prioritize and mobilize trading and production. Additionally, to provide the benefits of biotechnology for defense, build a strong biotechnology workforce for the future, and be prepared to match the collective strength of partners and allies. 

The commission chose a two-track strategy to wake up America to innovate faster and slow down China. This regards a favorable strategy to the American biotechnology IP and data against the Chinese. To which, the Chinese state-sponsored corporate espionage expressed its one-way intention of rejecting an investment, even though it's approaching and attractive. Also, the U.S should not underestimate the Chinese by considering them as ordinary competitors; the Chinese can arrange expensive alternatives if needed. 

The Commission appreciated China’s Artificial intelligence efforts by calling it a powerhouse of Artificial intelligence-enabled biotechnology. 

Views and statements 

The Chinese restrictions on gallium and germanium in 2024 due to which semiconductor production was interrupted. The Commission points out a Chinese saying: they steal and then scale, later, after cornering the market, they strangle. Further, the Commission encourages the U.S. to take advantage of partners' unparalleled strengths, which will increase demand for biotechnology products and exposure to the market based on a regional perspective by entering into a data-sharing agreement. 

A report warns the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to limit the use of PLA super soldiers, though the intention is to form the People’s Liberation Army a ‘world-class military’ by 2049, calling it ' intelligent warfare which will make drone warfare unusual.  According to private and public experts, the U.S must take quick action in these three years to avoid a non-recoverable fall back to stay in the competition.  

Observation

It has been observed that China’s distorted nature continues in the biotechnology market. For example, the Beijing Genomic Institute (BGI) and MGI Tech were both financed in a typical manner, indicating undisclosed state involvement, including subsidization. Showing or sabotaging their foreign competitors in the genomic sequencing market, China can portray false details, not stick to the point, and provide an incomplete presentation. China manufactures an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) unfairly at a low price, to which India imposed a unilateral anti-dumping on certain APIs from China in 2022 to protect the country’s domestic manufacturing industries.