China to catch up with GM technology

A farmer harvests rice in Guanyun county in Lianyungang city, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 15, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

A senior government official said Tuesday China would seek to catch up with the world's leading countries in the research of genetically modified (GM) food technology.

Han Jun, deputy director of the Office of Central Rural Work Leading Group, told reporters at a press briefing in Beijing that China, a country of 1.3 billion people, faces increasing constraints of environment and resources in agricultural development. GM technology is a "promising and rising" field that China can't fall behind, he said.

While acknowledging that there remains a clear gap between China and developed counties on the whole in GM technology research, Han said China leads the world in some areas, especially in the development of GM rice and corn.

He said a series of laws and regulations are already in place for better management of GM technology and any research activity is in accordance with the law.

Han's comments were made two days after the release of a key agricultural policy document released by the Communist Party of China and the government.

China will step up its efforts in improving public awareness of GM technology in agriculture in 2015, noted the No. 1 Central Document, which is focused on agricultural modernization.

In a speech to the Central Rural Work Conference last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that genetically modified organisms will finally be accepted in China and the technology should be allowed to develop in the country so long as the right caution is exercised.