Hainan Nanfan base bolsters China's agriculture development

Seven years after China issued a 10-year plan to build the Nanfan Scientific and Research Breeding Base in 2015, it has made remarkable achievements in the country's agriculture development, with more than 70 percent of new crop varieties in the country cultivated in the base.

In 2016, Hainan province designated 268,000 mu (17,867 hectares) of cultivated land for the Nanfan base. The province also assisted 165 institutions from various provinces to add 27,200 mu of land, which met the base's land needs.

Three cities and counties, namely Sanya, Lingshui, and Ledong, have designated 783 mu of land to support the construction of the supporting facilities of the Nanfan base to meet researchers' scientific research, production, as well as living security needs.

Currently, the base's biological breeding zone is in trial operation, with 10 scientific research and enterprises that have obtained the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for transgenic experiments carrying out field experiments there. To date, 90 percent of the construction of the second phase of the biological breeding zone has been completed.

The Nanfan base has established a national joint inspection system for plant quarantine. The National Nanfan Biological Breeding Zone Safety Management Committee has been established to provide guidance and services for the construction and operation of the biological breeding zone, issuing a number of normative documents to improve the zone's supervision level.

According to the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hainan will make use of the opportunities brought by free trade port construction to promote the high-quality construction of the Nanfan base, which is also known as China's Silicon Valley of agriculture.