President Biden on Wednesday ordered US intelligence agencies to report to him in the next three months on whether the Covid-19 virus first emerged in China from an animal source or from a laboratory accident.

The lab-leak theory, initially dismissed as "highly unlikely" by a delayed World Health Organization mission to China, has resurfaced in recent days, driven by Washington.

China wholly rejects the theory the virus may have emerged from a virology lab in Wuhan and has instead accused the US of peddling conspiracies and politicising the pandemic to divert attention from the high death rates there.

Rejecting the need for a new investigation into the pandemic, a ministry of foreign affairs spokesman on Thursday said the Biden administration's "motive and purposes are clear".

"The dark history of the US intelligence community has long been known to the world," Zhao Lijian added, referring to the US' unfounded allegations of weapons of mass destruction which justified its invasion of Iraq.

According to Biden, intelligence agencies are currently split over the two possible sources for the virus that swept the planet over the past year, killing more than 3.4 million people -- a figure experts say is undoubtedly an underestimate.

Biden's order signals an escalation in mounting controversy over how the virus first emerged -- through animal contact at a market in Wuhan, China, or through release of the coronavirus from a highly secure research laboratory in the same city.

The idea is gaining increasing traction in the United States, where it was initially fueled by Trump and his aides and dismissed by many at the time as a political stunt.

Citing a US intelligence report, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that a trio from the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalised with a seasonal illness in November 2019, a month before Beijing disclosed the existence of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak.

The natural origin hypothesis -- backed as the most likely by the WHO expert team who visited China -- holds that the virus emerged in bats then passed to humans, likely via an intermediary species.

This theory was widely accepted at the start of the pandemic, but as time has worn on, scientists have not found a virus in either bats or another animal that matches the genetic signature of SARS-CoV-2.

US Senate leader pushes bill to boost industry against China
Washington (AFP) May 26, 2021 - US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday said he would push for rapid passage of a bill that would allocate tens of billions of dollars towards boosting American industrial and technological competitiveness, particularly against China.

A key provision of the proposal aims to address a shortage of semiconductors that has put the brakes on auto production this year.

With both American political parties increasingly worried about competition from Beijing, Schumer hopes he can win bipartisan passage of the US Innovation and Competition Act.

The Democratic leader said he aims to get a vote on the bill "by the end of the week."

The legislation "will supercharge American innovation and preserve our competitive edge not just for the next few years, but for generations to come," Schumer said in the Senate.

The proposal aims to address a number of technological areas in which the United States has fallen behind its Chinese competitors, including in the production of semiconductors.

An ongoing shortage of the crucial chips has forced US automakers to cut production, and the bill allocates $52 billion in funding for a previously approved plan to increase domestic manufacturing of the components.

Also included is $1.5 billion to pay for a fund to boost American competitiveness in 5G wireless technology.

Another $1.5 billion would go towards a program "to counter the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party globally," and require the State Department to appoint a top official dedicated to that goal, according to a summary of the legislation.

Billions of dollars would go towards scholarships and other programs to advance scientific research.

President Joe Biden has pledged to work with opposition Republicans on key issues, and as Democrats control the Senate by a single vote, Schumer would need backing from several Republicans to forestall a potential filibuster that could block passage of the legislation.

The Democratic leader has collaborated with at least one Republican senator on the bill, and said the bipartisan support "reveals that Democrats and Republicans are united in our efforts to preserve and maintain American leadership on the world stage."