Sino-US Workshop on Agri Biotech 2011 Held in Beijing

The Sino-US Workshop on Agricultural Biotechnology 2011 sponsored by Development Research Center of the State Council of China, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of Chinese Academy of Science, and U.S. Grains Council Beijing Office, was held on June 20, 2011 in Beijing. The workshop was aimed to share experiences and prompt the development of agri-biotech. Stakeholders from multinational corporation, local companies, research institutes, universities, and government agencies attended the meeting. There were discussions on various issues including the impact of next generation biotech products, biotechnology and food security, seed industry in China, technology developers and marketing channel, consumer opinions and implications, regulatory policy, plant biotech communication, and intellectual property protection of GM technology in China.

At the end of the workshop, it was proposed that an Agro-biotech Policy Research Committee would be established to work on GM policy, and to provide reference/comments to policy makers in China and the U.S.

For more information, contact Prof. Hongxiang Zhang from the China Biotechnology Information Center at zhanghx@mail.las.ac.cn.