China began legislating the protection of human genetic resources in 1998, at which time the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Ministry of Health jointly formulated the Interim Measures for Administration of Human Genetic Resources; however, there had been no corresponding implementing rules to implement it in practice. That was until 2015, when the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the Service Guide for Administrative Licensing Items for the Collection, Collection, Trading, Export, and Exit of Human Genetic Resources. This guidance caused the gradual application of the Interim Measures for the Administration of Human Genetic Resources, which had been dormant for many years. In 2019, the State Council promulgated the current Regulations on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources (the HGR Regulations), which replaced the Interim Measures for the Administration of Human Genetic Resources. In 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the Biosecurity Law of the PRC, which officially came into force in 2021 and serves as the fundamental law in the field of biosecurity. So far, China's regulatory framework for the protection of human genetic resources has been established, but more implementing measures are needed to refine these laws and regulations.
