Biotech Updates

China Approves Biotech Crop Development Program

July 11, 2008

China’s State Council, in an executive meeting chaired by Premiere Wen Jiabao, approved a plan supporting the development of biotech crops in the country. According to the council, transgenic crops will play an important role in boosting China’s sustainable agricultural growth.

 Xinhua news agency said that the program aims to gain genes of great commercial value whose intellectual property rights belong to China, and develop high-quality, high-yield and pest-resistant GM crops. The agency further said that the council stressed the importance of the program and called upon relevant authorities to “waste no time implementing it”.

For more information on biotechnology in China, contact Zhang Hongxiang at zhanghx@mail.las.ac.cn