ABSTRACT
China’s biotechnology program has grown into the largest such initiative in the developing world. A study by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) shows that the government’s annual spending on agricultural biotechnology reached 1.65 billion yuan in 2004 (equivalent to US $199 million). The Chinese program has generated a wide array of new technologies. Genetically modified (GM) varieties of more than 20 crops have been approved for environmental release and/or field trials. By the end of 2006, China’s Biosafety Committee (CBC) received more than 1500 applications and approved 1024 of these for trials or commercialization. Among this growing range of crops and technologies, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is the most prominent example.
