Slated to come into effect on February 13, Hainan recently issued the "Hainan Free Trade Port Crop Seed Import and Overseas Introduction of Livestock Genetics Approval Management Measures.”

Prior to this, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has always been responsible for approving the import of agricultural genetic resources (i.e., seeds, sperm, eggs, fish fry, livestock, and poultry). However—in August 2024—in order to support Hainan in accelerating the construction of a free trade port and the building of the so-called “Silicon Valley for seed breeding” in Sanya, the State Council approved the province taking on the right of approval.

Tropical Seed Breeding and Multiplication Base in Yazhou District, Sanya. (Photo: Hainan Daily)

In order to promote the rapid development of Hainan's “Nanfan” industrial research (meaning “the act of raising crops and livestock from colder areas in tropical and subtropical regions in order to increase the number of generations per year”), as well as the production, processing and trade of “Nanfan” related businesses, the newly released measures require all crop seeds imported to Hainan to be tested, produced and sold in the Free Trade Port; limit the transfer of imported crop seeds to other places in the Chinese mainland; and require that the first generation of all livestock and poultry introduced from abroad (either as sperm and eggs or as live animals) be used, bred, and raised in the Hainan Free Trade Port.

At the same time, the approval process for importing livestock and poultry for breeding has also been optimized. The Animal Husbandry Law of the PRC stipulates that: "if an application for the import of breeding livestock and poultry fails to obtain a breeding livestock and poultry production and operation license due to the lack of breeding livestock and poultry, an explanatory document from the agricultural and rural authorities of the provincial, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the central government shall be provided." However, the new regulations state that "the agricultural and rural authorities of the Hainan Provincial People's Government will directly verify the relevant explanatory documents of the breeding capacity during the approval period." In plain talk, this means a substantially shortened approval time for the introduction of livestock and poultry genetic resources from abroad and a reduction in costs to market entities seeking approval.