The Zhongguancun Agbiotech Industrial Alliance Conference was formally established on February 3 in Beijing.

It was sponsored by Zhongguancun High-tech Enterprises Association and hosted by businesses and research institutes headed by Da Bei Nong Group and the Feed Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Science.

The aim is to promote the development of the agriculture biotechnology industry in China. Participants include officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Beijing Municipal government, academicians, and experts from research institutes and entrepreneurs concentrated in this industry.

Zhongguancun, known as China's "Silicon Valley," is also an agbiotech-intensive area equipped with all the advantages of a high-tech environment. The area is home to 39 universities including world-renowned Peking University and Tsinghua University.

There are over 300 research institutes represented by the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Science, China Agricultural University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in this small area.

Some agricultural high-tech enterprises like Da Bei Nong Group have become leaders in producing advanced biotech products which are widely sold. The agbiotech industry in Zhongguancun enjoys both support and assistance from the Zhongguancun Science Park and agricultural industry. These favorable conditions have laid a solid foundation for the fast development of the agbiotech industry.

China is the biggest cotton producer in the world. Its cotton growing area accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the world's total in China's highest growing years.

The conference noted that China is only second to the United States in owning independent innovation technology of anti-insect cotton, and leads the world in research and development of genetically modified rice. Some 380,000 hectares of acreage have been genetically modified by 2006. Currently, the country's agbiotech level is at the leading position among the developing countries.

Since the 1980s, the Chinese Government has instituted a series of policies to develop China's high-tech industry. Premier Wen Jiabao said in his report on the work of the government in March 2006 that China will, in the next five years, launch a number of major scientific and technological projects in strategic industries such as information technology and biotechnology.

As a result, the amount of government funds allocated to develop agricultural biotechnology increased year by year, enabling agricultural biotechnology to advance rapidly, according to Cai Huiyi, head of the Feed Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Science.

According to Cai, the number of research institutes has reached more than 200 with staff of over 10,000. Thus, a renovation system integrating basic research, application technology, and product development has taken shape.

"The establishment of the Alliance will help the agbiotech industry become a leading player among the industrial parks in the future development period," said Shao Genhuo, board Chairman of the Alliance. "In fact, the Alliance provides its members, both developers and producers, with a service platform to transfer research findings into products, and helps set up channels for both investment and money collection," he added. He believed the exchanging and cooperation activities between members of the alliance would raise the level of the industry. He forecasted that Zhongguancun is expected to become the "Silicon Valley" of agricultural biotechnology.

However, there are still problems to be solved in this area, according to participants. They noted that independent innovation capability needed to be strengthened, the State was also requested to provide more favorable policies in support of the industry. Investment in this industry is far less than compared with that of the U.S. and an effective mechanism to apply agbiotech research results is weak, Alliance members said.

The five-year plan of the alliance includes cooperation with agricultural biotechnology parks in other provinces; establishment of contacts with similar industries in the EU and North American; and the setting up of a national network covering R&D, industrialization, distribution, service and promotion. The aim of the Alliance is to form a foundation that will equip the industry with international competitive power.

This is the first time a group of Chinese experts and entrepreneurs in a major agriculture research field has aligned.