Chinese researchers to have access to GP records despite security concerns

Researchers from China are to be allowed access to half a million UK GP records despite western intelligence agencies' fears about the authoritarian regime amassing health data, the Guardian can reveal.

- Tom Burgis

Preparations are under way to transfer the records to UK Biobank, a research hub that holds detailed medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers. One of the world's largest caches of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies. A Guardian analysis shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.

For the past year, health officials had been assessing whether extra safeguards were needed for patient records when added to the genomes, tissue samples and questionnaire responses held by UK Biobank. Personal details such as names and dates of birth are stripped from UK Biobank data before it is shared but experts say that in some cases individuals can still be identified.

MI5, the UK security service, has warned that Chinese organisations and individuals granted access to UK data can be ordered by Chinese intelligence agencies "to carry out work on their behalf". But UK Biobank told the Guardian that the NHS unit responsible for health data had in recent weeks cleared it to grant Chinese researchers access to GP records.

As Keir Starmer's ministers court Beijing in search of economic growth, the decision avoids crossing a rising superpower that has made biotech prowess a priority. UK-China relations already face tests over the fate of the Chinese-owned steelworks in Scunthorpe and plans for new rules on foreign interference campaigns.

A government spokesperson said: "Security and privacy considerations are always taken into account when UK health data is used to drive forward our understanding of diseases and advance scientific research." They added that health data was "only shared with legitimate researchers".