Xi's stories: Fostering the 'Silicon Valley' of the Chinese seed industry

On April 10, President Xi Jinping inspected the Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory in the city of Sanya, South China's Hainan Province.

President Xi Jinping visits a seed laboratory to learn about seed industry innovation in Sanya, Hainan province, April 10, 2022. (Photo: Xinhua)

Xi has attached great importance to innovation in the seed industry and stressed the crucial role of "Chinese seeds" in ensuring the country's food security.

With its subtropical to tropical climate, Hainan is a seed breeding center. Every winter and spring, thousands of agricultural experts from all over the country gather in Hainan.

Researchers have made more than 600,000 such trips to Hainan since the 1950s.

Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory. (Photo: stdaily.com)

After generations of effort, more than 70 percent of the country's 10,000 new crop varieties have been bred at the Nanfan Breeding Research Center in Sanya.

During a visit to Sanya, in April 2018, Xi urged the building of a seed breeding 'Silicon Valley' that integrates research, production, sales, scientific and technological exchange for the whole country.

Preparation and construction began on the Nanfan Science and Technology City at the end of 2018.

The Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory was unveiled in Sanya in May 2021, bringing together academicians, high-tech companies and other scientific research units.

The laboratory is focused on tackling scientific problems and bottlenecks in the seed industry.

(Compiled by Liang Yuting)