You reap what you sow

China's rollout of genetically modified (GM) crops is gaining momentum.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) published the second batch of GM safety approvals, covering:

• Commercial planting of more GM crops, including corn, soybean, and herbicide-tolerant cotton varieties – all developed by Chinese companies
• Production and sale of livestock feed additives and vaccines produced using GM techniques
• Bulk commodity imports of two new GM varieties

Some context: In October, after decades of delay, MARA issued a landmark batch of safety approvals for the planting of GM corn and soybeans.

More context: In late December, MARA published a list of seed companies approved to produce and sell GM crop seeds commercially in certain provinces.

• Approvals span all major corn and soybean farming regions, indicating GM varieties will rapidly become available to farmers nationwide.

What caught our eye in the latest batch of approvals:

• GM crop DBN8002 – a GM soybean variety developed by Chinese seedco Dabeinong Technology – was approved for import.
• It's been widely used in Argentina since 2022.

Get smart: As the world's biggest buyer of corn and soybeans, China's GM import approvals greatly impact which varieties get planted abroad, from Iowa to Mato Grosso.

• If Beijing grows more comfortable approving imports of Chinese-developed GM crops, that shift will have global impacts.