China food security: GM soybean, corn commercial planting a step closer after ‘rapid introduction’ of draft

By Orange Wang

Commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) soybeans and corn in China moved a step closer this week following the “rapid introduction” of draft criteria amid Beijing’s increasing concerns over grain security and self-sufficiency.

The proposed regulations define the thresholds of “authenticity” and “effectiveness” that the GM varieties should meet when applying for examination and approval, as well as the technical standards for breeds that are further modified from already approved GM varieties.

“The safety management of biological breeding is bearing on the national food security and the self-reliance of agricultural science and technology,” vice-minister of agriculture Zhang Taolin said in comments released on Tuesday.

Like in many other parts of the world, GM technologies have long been faced with controversy and scepticism in China.

But this year, faced with domestic grain supply problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic as well as the agricultural sector being front and centre of the trade war with the United States, China’s attitude towards domestic GM cultivation has eased and Beijing has doubled down on breakthroughs in biotech breeding.

“The rapid introduction of detailed approval rules for GM soybean and corn may mean the agricultural ministry has a positive attitude on pushing the commercialisation of GM corn,” said China Merchants Securities analysts Xiong Chenghui and Li Qiuyan on Monday after the draft was released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The draft criteria are open for public opinion until Sunday, the same day when a major regulatory overhaul for the seed industry concerning GM crops announced last month will also finish its public consultation.

“Promoting GM seeds will help to ensure grain security and improve the country’s grain output. China now still has supply gaps in corn and soybeans, especially soybeans that depend on imports, and the gap of corn tends to widen,” said Dongxing Securities analysts Cheng Shiyue and Meng Lin on Tuesday.

China’s reliance on foreign soybeans was viewed as a structural weak link during the Trump-era trade war.

At the price of being dependent on foreign soybeans, China is able to ensure enough land for self-sufficiency in production of rice and wheat, two major staple crops.

The phase-one trade deal asked Beijing to strengthen communication with Washington to build “public acceptance of the use of safe biotechnology in agriculture and the food system” amid concerns over the risks of importing foreign GM products.

China issued biosafety certificates for a domestically grown GM soybean crop and two corn crops for the first time in decades in late 2019.

Beijing has since approved another 12 GM corn and three GM soybean varieties from domestic brands after the outbreak of coronavirus added to food security concerns.

China has allowed some foreign-developed GM soybeans, corn, rape, cotton and sugar beets to enter the domestic market as processing raw materials, although only GM cotton and papaya have been commercially planted.

China has yet to release a long-awaited action plan on how to revitalise its seed industry after it was approved in July by the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission led by President Xi Jinping.

It is likely to offer a clear message of Beijing’s stance on GM crops, with a press conference on the seed issue set to take place before the end of December, potentially at the earliest next week once the consultation periods end on Sunday.

A three-year census of China’s domestic agricultural germ plasma resources kicked off in March and it is expected to lay the foundations for breeding new crops using genetic technologies.

“[We] can make use of the latest biological breeding technology and the excellent genes contained in germ plasma resources to carry out molecular design breeding, germ plasma improvement and variety innovation, so as to achieve the goal of cultivating new varieties,” Qian Qian from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said last month.

“Generally speaking, that is, what kind of excellent traits are needed, what kind of genes are used to combine them.”

But concerns over the introduction of GM crops into China remain in some quarters.

“[We] should stand at the new strategic height … fully recognise the importance of native non-GM soybeans in terms of species protection and continuation,” Yang Baolong, president of the China Soybean Association, said in July.