U.S. adds Chinese genetics company units to trade blacklist

(This March 2 story has been corrected to say that only one unit of BGI Genomics was added to the list and the Commerce department added a total of three BGI Group units, in paragraphs 1 and 2)

(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday added a unit of prominent Chinese genetics company BGI Genomics Co Ltd to a trade blacklist, accusing the firms of posing a significant risk of contributing to monitoring and surveillance by the government of China, which has been utilized in the repression of ethnic minorities in China.

The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, added BGI Tech Solutions (Hongkong), as well as BGI Research and Forensic Genomics International, which belong to BGI Group, the parent of BGI Genomics Co Ltd. In 2020, the Commerce Department added two units of BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, to its economic blacklist over allegations of conducting genetic analyses used to further the repression of China’s minority Uighurs has denied wrongdoing. BGI denied allegations of wrongdoing in 2020.

(Reporting by Alex Alper and David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Howard Goller)