China’s government is calling for a biotechnology breakthrough in the agricultural industry and stepping up efforts to weed out counterfeit seeds that are holding back innovation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned that lessons must be learned from the food market turbulence caused by the Ukraine war, saying agriculture is a ‘national security issue of extreme importance’.
China’s food supply will be confronted with multiple challenges over the next decade, from rising incomes that will drive up demand to demographic changes and geopolitical disruption.
China in April enlarged its list of state-sponsored seed breeding and production bases for the first time since 2013, a ‘concrete move’ aimed at addressing rising food security concerns in the world’s most populous nation.
China’s agriculture ministry has issued new guidelines that speed up the approval process for genetically modified plants, as the government introduces a raft of measures aimed at overhauling the country’s seed industry.