China began importing GM soybeans in 1997. At that time, no certificates were required, and the imports of GM crops increased dramatically from 2.88 million tons in 1997 to 13.94 million tons in 2001, with these crops mainly coming from the United States, Argentina and Brazil.

"Compared with domestically-grown non-GM soybeans, imported GM soybeans are more welcomed by processing enterprises because of the stable supply, low transportation costs, low prices and high oil yield," said Feng Jie, Chief R&D Supervisor for Galaxy Futures Co. Ltd. in Beijing. "That's why GM soybean imports grew so fast after they first entered the Chinese market."

In 2001, the Chinese Government established barriers for importing GM crops and issued new regulations - the Regulations on Administration of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Safety and the Administrative Measures for Safety of Imported Agricultural GMOs.

According to the regulations, international GM crops can only enter the Chinese market after obtaining bio-safety certificates from the Ministry of Agriculture. These certificates are only valid for three years for GM soybeans and corn, and five years for cotton.

However, these barriers failed to curb the rapid growth of GM soybean imports, which continued to grow, reaching 58.38 million tons in 2012.

According to Zheng Fengtian, Professor at Renmin University of China School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, the rapid increase of GM soybean imports in recent years is due to increasing market demand. "Locally grown non-GM soybeans are far from enough to meet market demand," said Zheng.

Statistics show that China currently has about 120 million mu (8 million hectares) of land being used to grow soybeans, producing 12.8 million tons of soybeans a year. "But its market demand for soybeans exceeds 70 million tons every year. This means we must import soybeans from other countries," said Chen.

Impact on China

Owing to the rapid growth of GM soybean imports, many scholars are watching the future development of locally-grown non-GM soybeans.

According to Xu Ran, Director of the Soybean Studies Division at the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Crop Research Institute, the increasing imports of GM soybeans from abroad have had little influence on domestic soybean processing enterprises, but will greatly impact the enthusiasm of soybean growers in China, and the lower price may prompt some non-GM processing enterprises to turn to GM soybeans, said Xu.

Shandong Province in east China is one of the country's major soybean growing areas and has seen the soybean growing fields within the province shrink from more than 12 million mu (800,000 hectares) to about 3 million mu (200,000 hectares). China has been growing soybeans for more than 5,000 years, and was once a world leader in soybean production. But it now ranks fourth, trailing after the United States, Brazil and Argentina, and has moved from being a soybean exporter to a net importer.

The decline of domestically grown soybean has also impacted soybean processing. According to Li Zhongling, General Manager of Shandong Jiaxiang Oleochemicals Co. Ltd., of the 1.2 million tons of soybeans his company now processes, 90 percent are imported GM beans. However, before 2004, they only used non-GM soybeans.

Farmers have also felt the impact of imported GM soybeans. A decade ago, Liu Shunqiang, a villager who lives in Ganyu County, Jiangsu Province, had about 10 mu (0.67 hectare) of field for growing soybeans.

"Back in the day, during the soybean harvest season, there were many dealers who came here to buy our soybeans at quite high prices, and we could earn money by growing soybeans," he told ChinAfrica. "But now, no one [dealers] even comes here."

This year, the land that Liu uses to grow soybeans has been reduced to one-10th of the original area. "Nearly all the farmers in my village only grow soybeans for their own use, because we cannot sell them now," said Liu.

Xu Ran of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences suggested that China adopt measures to protect the interests of non-GM soybean growers. "China can open its market to GM soybeans, but must first strengthen protections for domestic non-GM soybean growers," he said. "But the fact is, China's protection measures are insufficient. The Chinese Government should do more in this regard."

Email us at: niyanshuo@chinafrica.cn