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Biotech is the new battlefield in the US-China rivalry. Everyone loses
Medical research is a vital public good. Failure to collaborate would be disastrous for global health.
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Like semiconductors and rare earths before it, biotechnology is now being swept into the geopolitical undertow.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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For decades, biotechnology was among the few areas of collaboration between China and the United States, and the partnership delivered significant gains on both sides. China sought to raise its research level by working with American government agencies, universities and commercial entities. US pharmaceutical giants leaned heavily on China for the low-cost production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs.
The Sino-American Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology, signed in 1979 by then leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jimmy Carter, and updated in December 2024 by the Biden administration, underpinned a swathe of successful projects such as a decades-long study that has helped to prevent millions of birth defects; improvements to the seasonal flu vaccine; and joint research in cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
