Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential national security implications of Chinese genomics company BGI Genomics opening a genome sequencing hub in the Queen Mary Bio Enterprises Innovation Centre.

We continually monitor threats to our data, and will not hesitate to take action if necessary to protect our national security. We expect all firms to fully comply with UK privacy laws. Those which do not may be investigated and subject to enforcement action. We have also strengthened measures to prevent the transfer of assets or technology that could pose national security risks. This includes upgrading our export control regime and Military End Use Control and introducing the National Security and Investment Act. As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, the Government is undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world.