Lu Yuping, the general manager of the company’s Hainan-based lab Longping Biotechnology, said he was expecting his company’s safety certificate to arrive by late 2022, but it was only approved in January.
Ultimately, he expects to see GM seeds accounting for 90 per cent of China’s corn production in five years.
Darin Friedrichs, an agricultural expert at Shanghai-based Sitonia Consulting, said the preview is “a touch optimistic”.
“China’s farming sector has a lot of smallholders, so it might be more of a challenge for them to all take up GM corn,” he said. “But, on the other hand, if the government really pushes for the widespread adoption of GM corn, we could also see fast results.”
China’s annual rural policy document published in February said there needs to be “faster steps in commercialisation in corn and soybean” and “an orderly expansion of areas for pilot projects”, but did not provide a timeline.
“The industry mostly expected commercialisation to start this year,” an expert who works for an accredited GM producer told the Post. The person wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.
At least five Chinese companies, including Yuan Longping High-tech, have had their GM tech on corn approved as safe. Foreign companies, though, are not allowed to sell GM seed, but can export modified crops for China’s animal feed.
Beijing has adopted a cautious approach towards GM after amid public fears about health risks.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which is in charge of GM approval and commercialisation, has in recent years published documents debunking rumours that GM crops can cause infertility and cancer.
Despite worsening relations with the US, China is the top destination for American corn exports. Before the war, Ukraine was China’s second largest source of corn imports, but Brazil has taken its place.
Lai Jinsheng, a professor at the China Agricultural University, said corn production from pilot programmes in the last two years showed production volume can be boosted from 5.6 per cent to 11.6 per cent, and anti-pest GM tech has been shown to be effective in 95 per cent of tested corn.
Seeds have been dubbed “the chips of agriculture” by Chinese state media.
“It is now a great window of opportunity for China to import more seeds from overseas as no country has proposed limiting China with such a method yet,” said Yang, whose company is a German joint venture with a Chinese company.
GM tech in agriculture is currently on China’s negative list for foreign investment.
“If China continues to block foreign investors from investing in the GM industry, they might not have the incentive any more,” Yang said.
