AstraZeneca is Not Owned by China

Drew Fossen

Business

2nd February 2021

There is no evidence the company has ties with China (Getty Images).

The Claim

AstraZeneca is owned by the Chinese or has ties to the Chinese government.

News posted on

Neil Schippers

Vytjie Mentor

Patricia A Liebenberg

Myrilvalentine

Dinx05

Emerging story

On Facebook, Vytjie Mentor, whose profile claims that he worked at the Parliament of South Africa, posted that “Astra Zeneca is owned by a RICHEST CHINESE that stays in HONG KONG and has TIES to the CHINESE GOVERNMENT.”

The post has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook.

Some users commented on the post, claiming that it is simply not true.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be fake. According to drugwatch, AstraZeneca is a UK-based drug company. Forbes lists AstraZeneca’s headquarters in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. Its board members include Leif Johansson, Pascal Soriot, and Marc Dunoyer, none of whom are Chinese. The company was founded in 1999 through the merger of the Swedish pharmaceutical company, Astra AB, and UK-based Zeneca Group.

According to Reuters, South Africa has agreed to buy 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine. Reuters reports that the vaccine will be produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII). This is confirmed by AP News and The Guardian.

There is no evidence that AstraZeneca has any ties with China or its government. There is also no truth to the claim that the vaccines are being produced by China as they are confirmed to be produced by the Serum Institute of India.