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| - The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) approved the 2018 takeover of GNC by China-based Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. after an investigation found no "unresolved national security concerns" in relation to the deal. GNC said it maintains "oversight relations" with CFIUS.
In early April, 2025, claims (archived) circulated that the health and nutrition chain GNC was owned by China — meaning the Chinese government — and operated on U.S. military bases, sparking concerns about threats to national security.
One X user wrote: "Wow. I had no idea that GNC is owned by the Chinese Communist Party. The possibilities of what they do with the intel on, or access to, fitness supplements in America and on US military bases are each frightful."
The claim appeared across (archived) Facebook (archived), X (archived), Threads (archived), Reddit (archived) and Bluesky (archived). Snopes readers also emailed to ask about the claim.
Claims that GNC is Chinese-owned are true. Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (HPGC), a pharmaceuticals company based in Harbin, China, acquired GNC in 2020 during bankruptcy proceedings. HPGC, in turn, is owned by a large Chinese state-owned investment company. It is also true that GNC operates on military bases — the company's website lists branches at prominent locations including Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Bragg and Patrick Space Force Base.
Therefore, we rate this claim as true.
GNC's Director of Public Relations Nick Sero confirmed the retailer's presence via email:
GNC has proudly served the U.S. military community for nearly three decades. We are run by a U.S.-based leadership team and are governed by strict U.S. security protocols. Customer data is protected by third-party controls approved by the Department of Defense. We do not share any personal information, PCI data, or security information with our parent company, nor are they accessible. We remain committed to protecting our customers, following our compliance, and meeting the trust placed in us by the U.S. military community.
The claim likely originated from North Carolina U.S. Rep. Pat Harrigan, who introduced the Military Installation Retail Security Act of 2025 in the House of Representatives on April 1, 2025.
The act sought, among other goals, to "ban companies owned or controlled by China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea from operating physical storefronts on U.S. military installations."
On April 2, 2025, Harrigan released a statement about the bill, in which he claimed that "a company owned by the Chinese Communist Party is operating over 80 stores on American military bases." The company Harrigan was referring to was GNC. The congressman's statement caused concerns — reflected in social media posts — about whether GNC's Chinese ownership posed a national security threat.
Review found no 'unresolved national security concerns'
Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (HPGC), a Chinese pharmaceuticals company, completed a takeover of GNC in 2020, according to a public filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
HPGC is majority owned by CITIC Capital, an investment firm that is in turn owned by CITIC Group, a major Chinese investment company described in local financial news outlet Caixin as a "state-owned financial conglomerate."
HPGC owned shares in GNC before the 2020 takeover following a $300 million investment in 2018. The 2018 sale went through after an investigation carried out by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFUIS) found "no unresolved national security concerns" in relation to the transaction.
CFIUS is an interagency committee that reviews certain transactions involving foreign investment in the U.S. with a view to protecting national security.
A GNC spokesperson said via email that the company sustained "direct oversight relations" with federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and CFIUS after the 2020 takeover by HPGC. We reached out to CFIUS to ask what sort of oversight it carries out over GNC and await a reply.
Additionally, GNC said it used a DOD-approved contractor to oversee and control access to consumer data — and that this was not shared with or accessible to GNC's parent companies.
GNC locations on military base
Some claims online included estimates of the number of GNC stores operating on U.S. military bases. The estimates likely came from the source of the claim, Harrigan, who said "more than 80" GNC stores were operating on U.S. military bases. It was unclear how Harrigan sourced this figure.
We reached out to Harrigan's office for a list of locations included in the claim. GNC did not confirm the number of stores on U.S. military bases.
Task & Purpose, a military news, culture and analysis outlet, reported 92 locations across the Army, Air Force, Space Force, Marine and Navy exchanges. Fox News reported a lower figure of 85 stores "on U.S. military bases."
Bloomberg Government reported on April 3, 2025, that (our links):
The bases that have GNC retailers include Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland, Fort Bragg, N.C, the home of many Army special operators, Marine Corps bases at Quantico, Va., and 29 Palms, Calif., and Patrick Space Force Base, Fla., which houses sensitive space operations.
The DOD did not confirm the locations mentioned in Bloomberg's report when asked, but all of the stores named in the report were listed on GNC's website.
At the time of this writing, Harrigan's Military Installation Retail Security Act of 2025 was due to be discussed in the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services. It had not passed votes in the House or Senate, both of which are required for a bill to become law.
Snopes previously reported on claims that Chinese investors bought farmland near U.S. military bases.
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