China: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual

The People's Republic of China (PRC) continues to advance toward commercial cultivation of domestically developed genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybean crops. Since the last report, the PRC made significant regulatory changes to facilitate the cultivation of GE crops, including publishing the first variety registration list for GE corn and soybeans and an updated draft measure on labeling agricultural GE products. Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) issued nine new biosafety certificates and two renewed biosafety certificates for GE crops approved for import as processing materials, clarified the classification criteria and requirements for evaluating gene-edited plants, and approved the country’s first ever gene-edited plant for domestic cultivation. The PRC’s prohibition on foreign investment in GE seeds and its opaque, unpredictable review processes for foreign products favors domestic biotech developers and undercuts access to GE varieties developed outside China.