US Treasury moves to curb American investment in Chinese biotech

According to the Treasury's 22 October statement, the draft implements the COINS Act, passed in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. Beyond semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, high-performance computing and hypersonic systems, the rule uses the Secretary's discretion to cover biotechnology, taking the number of sectors to 6. AP counts the newly covered areas differently, listing 4: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, hypersonics and biotechnology. BioPharm International says the countries of concern are China, including Hong Kong and Macau, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

The biotech definition is broad. It takes in biologically derived compounds, brain-computer interfaces, biomanufacturing equipment, sequencing and biological design technologies, and bioinformatics tools. Equity acquisitions, convertible debt, joint ventures, greenfield investments and some fund investments are covered. AP reports that the rule will apply only to investments above 50,000 dollars, and that many financial investments, such as buying listed shares, will be exempt. Pure licensing deals fall outside the rule, but arrangements involving the transfer of technology or know-how do not qualify for the exemption.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the draft would strengthen the existing programme. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the concept of national security was being overstretched and that Beijing would take the necessary measures. Bloomberg reports that Beijing proposed a week earlier to add several biomedical technologies to its own export control list, while explicitly allowing pharmaceutical licensing deals to continue. In July the Treasury fined a US company 200,000 dollars for failing to report a 92,500-dollar investment in a Chinese AI and robotics firm.