A biotech developmental state?: the Chinese experience

This briefing paper looks at the achievements of, and the challenges to, biotechnology in China. In contrast to other countries, the state has determined the objectives and led the biotechnology process. This paper asks: does this Chinese ‘developmental state’ model suggest that alternative more pro-poor biotechnology futures are possible?Achievements of biotechnology in China include:emphasis has been put on producing new seeds that lower input costs for farmers, rather than tie them into particular proprietary chemicalsthere has been more emphasis on non-transgenic techniques of less interest to the private sector, because they are less likely to result in patentable productscrops are being developed with a ‘pro-poor focus’, including stress tolerant crops suited for dry, low-fertility or saline settingsHowever, there are dilemmas when the Chinese example is used to either present biotechnology as problem-free for poor farmers, or as an example of an alternative model for the GM revolution. Key questions to be considered include:do the huge state investments in research lead to pressure to commercialise new crops and override biosafety concerns?what are the opportunity costs in relation to other non-transgenic forms of agricultural research?are farmers really able to influence types of new GM technologies being developed on their behalf?The paper also illustrates challenges which the state is facing in this model of biotechnology development, and highlights competing pressures on Chinese policy-makers, such as:a decision to commercialise transgenic varieties of major food crops could have implications for exports to EU markets and might also restrict scope for excluding imports of more competitive US GM soya beans and maize, following entry into the WTO. This could have implications for the livelihoods of farmers in China’s economically troubled north-eastern provincesthere is pressure that China should begin to capture the returns from its substantial investments in GM crop researchimplementing biosafety management is difficult with China’s diverse smallholder farming systemssubstantial opposition to genetically modified foods by the increasingly informed urban middle class is a real possibility