Brad Gilmour
Mouralea Trade, Agriculture, and Resource Consulting, Canada
Hugh Dang
Transnational Corporations Review, Canada
Xiaobing Wang
Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP), China

China’s agri-biotech crop cultivation ranks as 6th in the world after the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and India. Policy and regulatory issues become most important for agribiotech crops’ development in China and the rest of the world. With its new leadership established in the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012, the State Council released its Biological Industrial Development Plan one month later in December 2012. Along with other significant policies, this document reveals China’s policy developments related to biotechnology, which is influencing the county and the rest of the world. While reviewing these latest policy developments, this study looks into China’s agri-biotech-related regulations and programs, as well as reviews its governance institutions. Focusing on a policy and institutional analysis, the study looks into China’s challenges with its bureaucratic system in a global context.

Key words: Agri-biotech, China, policy, regulations, institutions.