The Chinese biotechnology experience

China's experience with biotechnology differs from that of many developing countries. The state has determined the terms and process of engagement with this new technology. Does the Chinese model suggest that alternative pro-poor biotechnology scenarios are possible?

China spends US $500m eachyear on biotechnology research and has over 100 research institutes. Fieldtrials have been carried out for all key crops and for traits from pest resistanceto drought tolerance. However, while China is at the forefront of internationalresearch, policy makers are cautious about commercialising GM crops. To date,no major GM food crop has been approved for large scale cultivation. Consumerreactions, trade restrictions and environmental impacts are all key concerns.Biotechnology scientists are pushing for commercialisation of GM rice, butpolicy makers have so far resisted.

The only GM crop widelygrown by Chinese farmers is Bt cotton (cotton genetically modified to containthe insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis). This has spread quickly, and in someprovinces all the cotton is genetically-modified (GM). Alongside developing itsown technologies and companies, China has also set carefulconditions for big biotechnology corporations. China has achieved this by:

• forcingthem to operate through joint ventures with Chinese seed companies
• restrictingtheir access to genetic material derived from local plants
• demandingcomprehensive biosafety assessments
• limitingexpansion, using province-by-province approvals.

Under somecircumstances, a state-led research and development model can challenge themajor biotechnology multinationals, as experienced in China.This could develop technology that is more relevant to a greater range offarmers. It may also mean less emphasis on expensive products where profits areprimarily captured by corporations, and regimes where farmers’ rights to saveseeds are restricted. Questions still need to be asked, however. A rapidlydeveloping technological capacity may not always allow sufficient opportunitiesfor consideration of risks, or of what forms of development are mostappropriate for poor farmers. Consumers, farmers and civil society remainpoorly represented in decision-making processes. Furthermore, China isdifferent to many other states in terms of size, political culture, and thescale of resources it can put behind its biotechnology programme. Not alldeveloping countries can guide the path of technology development in this way.