China's biggest grain-producing province has passed a five-year ban on growing, processing and selling genetically modified crops, in an apparent blow to central government efforts to turn the country into a world beating GMO power.
Despite spending billions of dollars on biotech food research, Beijing does not currently permit the cultivation of any GMO crops except for cotton and papaya, amid fierce suspicion from consumers over perceived health risks.
The ban announced by China's northeastern Heilongjiang province comes into effect in May and applies to rice, corn and soybeans. "The black soil of Heilongjiang and its biodiversity needs special protection," the state-run China News Service cited provincial officials as saying.