The public debate in China on the safety of GE crops was “imported” from Europe, stated Zhangliang Chen. It is germane in particular to the improvement of rice productivity in that country, where GM varieties are in final field-trial stages. On the other hand, Peter Welters reported that the scare-mongering of anti-GM-activists in Europe is increasingly recognized for what it is. Examples showing benefits of applying genetic engineering to plants are finding acceptance by the general public. “We have only to inform people cor­rectly and constantly about the progress and the benefits of this new technology. Millions of farmers worldwide can’t be wrong.

Chen, Zhangliang

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China, one of the largest agricultural countries in the world, has made significant achieve-ments in agricultural production. We use about 70% of arable land to feed 0% of our population. However, since 000, production has been stable, whereas the population continues to increase, therefore we face challenges, as in India. The first is population. We estimate that it will increase to .6 billion around the year 00, therefore we need to increase agricultural production commensurately. and then we have challenges in terms of arable land and water resources.Imports and Exportsafter China joined the World trade Organization in 00, importation of agricultural products increased dramatically and the trade deficit climbed to over US$5 billion in 005. Three major problems characterize US/China trade relations. First is the United States-to-China deficit in agricultural goods. Second is the China-to-United States deficit, which includes textiles and other industrial goods. The second trade issue is the value of Chinese money. The third problem is intellectual property (IP) rights.In 005, China imported 7 million tons of soybean from the United States, Brazil and argentina, almost 40% of the total consumption in China (which produced about 60 million tons). Importation of soy from the United States began in 995, mostly from Iowa and Wisconsin. In 00, China made labeling of GM seed mandatory. US companies were unable to quickly meet the imposed standard, importation dropped precipitously in that year; however, it came back in 00, 003 and 004. Cotton is the second most important crop imported by China. although we are one of the largest producers of cotton, involving 00 million farmers, 5% of exports are textiles. In 005, China’s cotton importation increased dramatically; it increased from 3 million to 5 million tons between 000 and 005. Corn and rice are also imported.Chinese Agricultural Biotechnology in the FieldZhangliang ChenAgricultural UniversityBeijing, China85Investments in agricultural BiotechnologyThe Chinese government has made significant investments in agricultural biotechnology. In an attempt to ensure food security, research funding has been doubling every 5 years. China is second only to the United States in terms of federal funding of plant biotech-nology. In contrast to India, in which multinational companies including Monsanto are operating, China has little investment in plant biotechnology from the private sector, possibly due to concerns over IP. Thus, plant biotechnology is developing rapidly, with much activity in field trials and the process of commercialization. China is number five in terms of production and commercialization of transgenic crops (i.e. cotton) in the world after the United States, argentina, Brazil and Canada. after the government approves transgenic rice for com-mercial production, China will quickly occupy the number-two position.In total, about 700 applications have been approved for field trials and about seventy-five commercialization licenses have been granted. The largest number is of transgenic cotton, which has been released in more than ten provinces. However, about thirty species of transgenic plants being tested in the field, including cotton, rice, wheat, corn, soybean, potato, oilseed rape and tobacco. also, over 30,000 transgenic poplar trees are under trial in the Beijing area. China is second only to the United States in terms of federal funding of plant biotechnology.transgenic cotton was first grown commercially in 996, and today over 60% of cotton grown in China is genetically engineered. It is close to 00% transgenic in the Yangtze river basin. transgenics are not used in Xingjian province, although it is  a major produc-tion area for cotton, because nematode infestation is not a serious problem.Imported Concernsas in other asian countries, public concern over the safety of GMOs is a problem in China. This problem came from Europe; 998 and 999 were difficult years. Greenpeace published a magazine, available free of charge, which was sent to officials in China and members of the scientific community. Particular attention was focused on transgenic rice. China is the major rice producer globally. Over 600 million Chinese farmers live on rice and it is also vitally important globally. research on transgenic rice has been in Over 60% of cotton grown in China is genetically engineered.86 agricultural Biotechnology: Economic Growth Through New Products, Partnerships and Workforce Developmentprogress for over 0 years. Genetically engineered rice is being field-tested for resistance to insects, bacterial blight, and fungal rust, and for salt and herbicide tolerances, and with nutritional improvements including golden rice resulting from collaboration with Ingo Potrykus, and varieties resistant to rice dwarf virus from my laboratory. We are now in the last phases of preproduction trials of transgenic rice. In November 004, the final committee of scientists approved transgenic rice for commercialization, and we await approval by the Ministerial Conference, which consists of representatives of seven ministries including agriculture, Science and technology Involvement, and Im-port/Export. We expected approval in May 005, but Greenpeace acquired seeds and sent them to GeneScan, an analytical laboratory in Germany. a PCr assay revealed a Bt gene, which drew press attention globally. Immediately, Japan and Korea, banned importation of rice from China, in response to which the Conference postponed commercialization and we still await approval, despite the fact that our scientific committee again approved Bt rice in November, 005.In early 006, Greenpeace announced detection of GM rice in Chinese-made baby food and is publicizing the “scandal of illegal GM rice” on their website. Thus, the situation in China is getting more and more difficult. In contrast, the situation is good in the United States; however, it remains difficult in Europe and increasingly so in China.a common complaint is that GM food is unsafe, yet Bt toxin has been used in China since the 960s for insect control on vegetables, with no reports of poisoning. Over  billion people in the Unites States, argentina and China have been exposed to transgenic soybean with no reports of toxicity. (We import transgenic soybean, but are not allowed to grow it.)Environmental safety is also a concern. Greenpeace has attempted to convince the government that genetically engineered crops adversely affect the environment. The fact that many people have been poisoned by ingestion of pesticides is generally ignored. It can be argued that since Bt crops save human life, they actually improve the environ-ment. Significantly more insects are present and increased insect diversity exists in fields of transgenic cotton because less pesticide is applied. More people are poisoned and die as a result of exposure to insecticides used on non-transgenic cotton and rice than with Bt counterparts. The issue of beneficiary is another source of complaint. Benefits accrue to farmers and to the production company—often Monsanto is the focus of discontent—rather than to the consumer.LabelingLabeling is another contentious issue. In the United States, labeling is voluntary on the part of the producer, therefore the situation becomes complicated where products are being exported. China enacted a law in 00 enforcing labeling. Soybean oil has to be labeled to indicate its GM source even though it does not contain any transgenic component. This can be confusing for consumers. Furthermore, many people in China are illiterate; the extra cost involved in labeling is, in many cases, of no utility.Chen 87agbiotech and Global NeedsPart of my job is to convince people that this technology is useful, which has become difficult as a result of Europe’s influence. If the European Union would be accepting of GMOs, China, India, Thailand and african countries would benefit. In many parts of the world people are hungry, yet their ability to feed themselves is being compromised by others who live in abundance. I hope that more attention will be paid to these poor countries, especially to hungry countries, so that this technology can be made available to help people help themselves and help the environment.ZHangliang cHen—a pioneer in genetic engineering of plants—received his PhD in roger Beachy’s laboratory at Washington University, St. Louis, in 987. He has served as vice president of Peking University and as director of the China National Laboratory of Protein Engineering and Plant Genetic Engineering, one of China’s largest centers for r&D in agricultural biotechnology. actively involved in biosafety issues, he is a member of the China National agrobiotechnology Biosafety Committee, which approves field trials and commercialization of genetically engineered crops. He has (co)authored seven books and some 00 research papers. Dr. Chen has been the president of the China agricultural University since 003. He also serves as chair of the Plant Biotech Committee of UNESCO, as a consultant for the International Society for Plant Molecular Biology, and as a member of the Sino-Euro administration Committee for Biotechnology Coopera-tion. He was recently elected vice chairman of the Council of Scientific advisers of the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Italy.88 agricultural Biotechnology: Economic Growth Through New Products, Partnerships and Workforce Development

Chinese agricultural biotechnology in the field

http://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/51229/1/nabc18_12_Chen.pdf

Chinese agricultural biotechnology in the field

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