he USDA FAS Global Agricultural Information Network has released its report
on China's agricultural biotechnology industry, highlighting the approval of
five new biotech traits in imported crops for processing. These are the
first five approvals granted in the last one and a half years.

The report also states that the Ministry of Agriculture was renamed into the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), with its biotechnology
regulation function remaining the same. MARA has also amended its
regulations on safety assessment, import approval, and GMO labeling. Despite
the re-structuring and amendments, MARA has still not issued the
certificates of cultivation for both the GE corn and GE soy which have been
in the approval pipeline since 2016.

The report also includes MARA's campaign efforts to combat the widespread
misinformation about agricultural biotechnology in the country, especially
in the Chinese social media. Through the campaigns, the Chinese government
hopes to turn consumer and public perceptions favorable towards agricultural
biotechnology.

[gain.fas.usda.gov]
hnology%20Annual_Beijing_China%20-%20Peoples%20Republic%20of_2-22-2019.pdf