Crop Bio-Breeding Industry Development Summit in Beijing

The Crop Bio-breeding Industry Development Summit cosponsored by the Chinese Society of Biotechnology (CSBT) and Chinese Society of Agricultural Biotechnology (CSABT) was held on February 25 in Beijing, China. More than 150 officers and experts from Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences ( CAAS), Peking University, China Agricultural University and relevant bio-corporations participated in this conference.

Dr. Clive James, founder and chair of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), provided the global overview of biotech/GM crops in 2009 and talked about the current status, impact and future prospects of GM crops. He lauded the Chinese government's approval of GM rice and phytase corn and pointed out that the rapid development of biotechnology was a miracle for modern agricultural science and technology. Transgenic crop area has increased year by year and its adoption has brought enormous economic, social and ecological benefits. There will be a new wave of biotech crops development in 2009- 2015, Dr. James predicted.

Dr. Fan Yunliu, developer of phytase maize, and Dr. Zhang Qifa, developer of Bt rice, gave detailed reports on phytase maize and Bt rice. Both of them fully affirmed the biosafety of the two products. They expressed the hope that the media could be more objective and scientific in explaining GM issues and lead the public to a better understanding of the technology. This would provide a good environment for biotechnology development and continuously promote the healthy and sustainable development of bio-breeding industry.

For more information on crop biotech developments in China, contact Prof. Zhang Hongxiang of the China Biotechnology Information Center at zhanghx@mail.las.ac.cn