Chinese Premier on S&T Development and Strengthening Technology for Agriculture

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao published an article on Several Issues on Science and Technology in the Qiushi Journal, the publication of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on July 16, 2011. He stressed that "in order to feed 1.3 billion population with limited land resources, China must rely on advanced technology such as breeding and GM technology to transform traditional agriculture".

"China has made significant achievements in breeding new GM varieties. In 2008-2010, breeding and commercialization of new GM cotton made possible 36 new insect-resistant cotton varieties, 167 million mu (11.2 million hectares) planted to GM, and 16 billion Yuan in benefits. In 2009, GM rice and GM maize received security certificates in China. Moreover, China has set up a whole set of strict regulations on biosafety management. All of these indicate that the breakthrough of advanced technology has opened a new direction for the development of traditional industry, " Wen stressed in the article.

The full article in Chinese is at http://www.qstheory.cn/zywz/201107/t20110716_93475.htm