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Sanya cultivates transit base of flora and fauna germplasm

According to plan, the base will become part of the island’s pilot free trade zone

HAIKOU, May 19. /TASS/. Hainan's Sanya imported a batch of corn seeds (230 kg) from Brazil as part of the development of an import and transit base for germplasm of flora and fauna created in the region, the Sanya Daily reported.

According to the newspaper, since April 26 the seeds have been stored in quarantine, following that they will be used for scientific research, replenishing the region's selection potential, breeding new varieties.

In April 2018, President Xi Jinping announced the creation of a pilot free trade zone on Hainan. Along with this, he called for the development of tropical agriculture on the island, in particular, emphasized the need for setting up a National Tropical Agriculture Research Center in the province, and also urged to support Hainan in creating a transit base of flora and fauna germplasm resources there. Sanya was chosen to be the site for the construction of the latter.

According to plan, the base will become part of the island’s pilot free trade zone. It will be engaged in the breeding of new plant varieties, promote innovation in the region’s agriculture, and will also play an important role in ensuring food security on the Island of Hainan.

In December 2018, the key provisions of the development of the transit base in Sanya were announced, in August 2019 a special working group was set up to manage the development of the facility. Since last year, a number of cooperation agreements have been signed with leading agricultural research institutes.

According to the Sanya Daily, that batch of Brazilian corn was the first shipment to Sanya as part of the development program for plant germplasm base.

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