A UK minister has claimed the government knew that Chinese genomics research company BGI was attempting to hack the NHS’s genetic data centre years before it was awarded a Covid-19 testing contract.
George Freeman, science minister, told parliament on Wednesday that BGI was a “danger point in the ecosystem” of British scientific research and had in the past sought to hack Genomics England, a company set up to sequence genomes from NHS patients with cancer or rare diseases.
However, government officials later said that Freeman was expected to issue a clarification of his claims, which were made during a debate in Westminster Hall.
A BGI spokesperson said: “We are incredulous at this statement. BGI Group has never been, and will never be, involved in ‘hack attacks’ against anyone.”
They added that BGI’s “data processed in the UK remain in the UK and the EU”, and that the company complied with local information security standards and privacy laws, including the EU general data protection regulation.
BGI is one of the world’s biggest gene-sequencing companies. Initially incubated under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, BGI Group is privately owned and its subsidiaries have drawn investment from Chinese state-held funds, as well as international investors such as Sequoia Capital and the Gates Foundation.
BGI’s best-known product is a prenatal gene test, which is sold in the UK and many EU countries; it also produces PCR Covid test kits.
“We are in now a global race and it’s not just a race from our benign competitors,” Freeman said. “There are also hostile actors who want to both use science and technology to hold us back and undermine us or steal our science and technology for their own use.”
Freeman said that during China president Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain in 2015 colleagues informed him of repeated attempts by BGI to breach Genomics England’s database.
“I was preparing to pay tribute to the work of the BGI when my officials pointed out that each week at that point Genomics England was receiving several hack attacks from BGI,” he told MPs.
“That was a wake-up call for all of us. We are all very much aware that we have to manage these risks properly,” said the minister.
“And on that point I have literally just commissioned and received from UK Research and Innovation a detailed assessment of all of the China research and innovation links across our system,” he added.
Last week, Washington put 28 Chinese groups on a trade blacklist, including three BGI subsidiaries: BGI Research, BGI Tech Solutions and Forensic Genomics International.
The US alleged the subsidiaries posed “a significant risk of contributing to monitoring and surveillance by the government of China”. In 2020, the US blacklisted two other BGI subsidiaries.
BGI has denied all allegations of violating sanctions or abusing human rights.
On Wednesday, a group of MPs from the House of Commons defence, foreign and health select committees called for the government to take action over the potential risk of the company to the UK’s genetic data security.
The group — including Labour MPs Siobhain McDonagh, John Spellar, Taiwo Owatemi and Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael — warned of the “huge ethical, privacy, commercial and security risks” of giving Chinese state-linked companies access to government contracts.
The MPs said the current procurement bill in parliament should be altered to include clauses that would “remove state-linked Chinese genomics firms, such as BGI, from the government’s procurement supply chain”.
The MPs demanded a review into whether BGI’s investments with UK financial institutions and links with UK universities could pose a risk.
