Republika Srpska announced the opening of a controversial Chinese laboratory, a denial came from Beijing

The Investment and Development Bank (IDB) of Republika Srpska (RS) announced at the end of May the opening of a laboratory for medical research, as a representative office of the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), which has been under investigation in several countries.

The news was published on the entity bank's website, with the announcement that it should be the first laboratory in RS for medical research, such as prenatal testing and cancer research.

The opening of the laboratory, as it was said, is being handled by "a businessman from China, Yunan Chai, who has entered the process of registering a company in RS."

The Bank's delegation met with him at an international fair in China at the end of May.

The news was accompanied by a statement from this businessman that it would be "the first company of this type in RS" and that he was satisfied with the investment environment that the entity provides.

Apart from denying that they plan to open a laboratory in BiH, the BGI Group did not respond to a request from Radio Free Europe (RFE) to comment on the information about the Chinese businessman who initiated the company's registration.

BGI attracted the attention of the world public in July 2021 after Reuters wrote that it had developed prenatal tests in cooperation with the country's military, which the Chinese company denied.

The company has also been blacklisted in the US, while several European countries where its prenatal tests were used have been investigated for suspected data misuse.

 

 

Who is businessman Yunan Čaj?

RFE/RL has not received any information from entity institutions about the details of the opening of the laboratory in RS, as well as the Chinese businessman who is presented as the leader of this process.

The Investment and Development Bank, as well as the RS Government, did not respond to RFE/RL's inquiry about the announced investment.

RFE/RL Director Srđan Jovanović said on May 28, during a guest appearance on Radio and Television of RS, that he had a meeting with a representative of a large company at a fair in China, referring to BGI, which has more than 40,000 employees.

"However, according to my knowledge, everything is still in an initial phase," he says, noting that he visited the BGI Group headquarters in China a few months ago, when interest was expressed in "expanding business in Central and Eastern European countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Berjan did not answer the question of whether he participated in the talks with the businessman who was announced as a representative of the BGI Group.

 

Investigations in several countries

The Beijing Institute is part of the wider BGI Group, and in the region they operate in Serbia, where two laboratories, called "Fire Eye", were opened five years ago.

"This man came here to RS and is opening a company in East Sarajevo. It is no longer something that is impossible," said Jovanović.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated to RFE/RL that they have no information about the plans to open a laboratory of the BGI Group, or the businessman who will register the company for this purpose.

Siniša Berjan, BiH's ambassador to China, told RFE/RL that representatives of the Chinese group participated in the RS Investment Forum last year, where they "publicly announced potential cooperation and interest in investing in the health sector, including the possibility of opening a laboratory."

Its core activities are clinical research into human health, the development and discovery of new medicines, and scientific research into plants, animals, and microorganisms.

BGI, among other things, produces prenatal tests that are sold worldwide and are used to detect fetal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome.

Citing reviews of scientific papers and company statements, Reuters published an article in July 2021 stating that "BGI developed the NIFTY test in collaboration with the country's military."

Reuters reported at the time that advisors to the United States (US) government had warned that the vast genomic data bank that BGI is collecting and analyzing with artificial intelligence in China could pave the way for economic and military advantage.

BGI Group denied allegations of misuse of DNA data and cooperation with Chinese authorities, emphasizing that it developed the test itself, not in partnership with the Chinese military.

 

US sanctions

Several subsidiaries of the BGI Group have been blacklisted by the US since 2020 for alleged violations of the rights of the Uyghur Muslim minority community in China.

The US Department of Commerce at the time cited the company as helping to conduct "genetic analyses to further repress" Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities in China.

 

Designating it as a civilian company collaborating with the military, the US Department of Defense placed BGI on a "blacklist" in October 2022, barring US companies and individuals from investing in it.

Cooperation with BGI was also the reason for investigations in several European countries, including Slovenia, Germany and Estonia, due to suspicions of alleged misuse of genetic data from prenatal tests, which was previously reported by RSE.

The BGI Group again denied the accusations of misuse of data for RSE, emphasizing that the Estonian authorities have suspended the investigation until they are aware of any official conclusion of the investigation by the Slovenian or German authorities.

"BGI Group adheres to strict standards in information security, including compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)," they stated, referring to the regulation, which was adopted at the level of the European Union (EU) in 2016, and protects the rights to protect the personal data of EU citizens.

 

BiH without adequate regulations

Although the Chinese company has not officially opened a representative office in BiH, its services, primarily prenatal testing, can be obtained through representatives of companies registered in EU countries.

Genetic medicine specialist Rijad Konjhodžić tells RFE/RL that countries like BiH, which do not have the laws or the capacity to keep genetic material within their borders, are attractive to foreign companies.

"Genetic data is a treasure and is sold for huge amounts of money. The fact that we are willing to offer it to others is catastrophic. We have been fighting for years to ensure that none of it leaves BiH and that we have our own capacities, but the authorities are deaf to it," he tells RFE/RL.

He points out that large global companies in BiH have representatives in BiH, whom he calls 'traveling salesmen', who send blood and other materials for testing to countries like China, Poland, Italy, and the USA.

"They sign there that it will not be used for anything else, but none of them say that they will not sell the data. They are powerful and they are sold to large software companies that create algorithms. Those who are connected to governments, especially those like China's that are not democratic, can use it for various things, not for scientific work or achievements," he says.

Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have legislation regulating the field of genetic research. There are also no regulations regulating the field of import or export, so this material, Konjhodžić says, leaves BiH without any obstacles.

"Every year, 15,000 samples for prenatal testing leave BiH. It can't be illegal, because there are no regulations, and anything that is not strictly prohibited means it is allowed," he says.

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The Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH told RFE/RL that in recent years they have not encountered any cases of misuse of genetic data.

The protection of genetic data is only mentioned in the new Law on Personal Data Protection, which came into force in March this year, as a result of the obligation to comply with the GDPR.

Thus, the Law, among other things, prohibits the processing of genetic data for the purpose of identifying persons, with the exception of a few cases for which their consent is required.

The law states that additional conditions may be introduced by special laws, including restrictions on the processing of genetic data.