For decades, Western agribusiness and multinational seed corporations have attracted widespread criticism—not only in developing countries but also within their own societies—for promoting hazardous genetically modified (GM) crops, appropriating farmers' seed diversity, using patents to maximize control over seeds, and expanding their grip over land and agricultural resources in the Global South. Critics have argued that these corporations have prioritized profits over biodiversity, farmers' rights, public health, and environmental sustainability.
Disturbingly, a similar pattern now appears to be emerging in China. In an irony reminiscent of George Orwell's Animal Farm, Chinese agribusiness corporations seem increasingly intent on replicating the very model of corporate agriculture that was once widely condemned as exploitative.
A recently released (July 2026) research paper by GRAIN, an international organization known for advocating small farmers' rights and sustainable food systems while documenting the growing corporate control over agriculture, presents extensive evidence of this shift. Titled Capturing the Seed: China's Agribusiness Corporations at Home and Abroad, the report argues:
"On the technology front, China is betting on accelerated deployment of GM seeds, gene editing and AI-driven breeding to increase domestic grain production. Simultaneously, it is seeking to expand overseas seed markets, ensuring that grains and crops imported back into China are grown from Chinese-developed seeds, thereby creating a closed-loop supply chain that strengthens its control over the food supply."
According to the report, Chinese government policies have actively encouraged the consolidation of major seed companies while granting them privileged access to valuable germplasm resources. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs selected 69 leading companies to form a "national crop seed team," providing them with preferential access to finance, research, and state support. The key beneficiaries include state-backed giants such as CITIC-Longping, Sinochem-Syngenta, and the State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC).
The report notes that in December 2024, Longping Hi-Tech transferred nearly an 11 percent stake in Longping Biotechnology—a Hainan-based company specializing in genetically modified crop development—to the Central Enterprise Rural Industry Investment Fund, managed by SDIC, for US$53 million. Such transactions illustrate the growing influence of state-backed investors over China's seed biotechnology sector.
Parallel to this corporate consolidation, China has significantly strengthened legal protection for commercial breeders. Amendments to the Seed Law in December 2021 introduced broader plant variety protections aligned with the UPOV 1991 framework through the Essential Derived Varieties (EDV) system. Under this system, new seed varieties that inherit most of their genetic material from protected varieties cannot be freely distributed without the original breeder's permission.
Critics argue that this framework allows large corporations to extend their control over successive generations of seeds while restricting farmers' ability to save, exchange, or develop their own varieties. As China deepens its integration into the UPOV regime, stronger enforcement of seed intellectual property rights risks shifting control over seeds from farming communities to corporate boardrooms dominated by companies such as SDIC and Longping.
Another central pillar of China's seed strategy is the expansion of commercial access to germplasm. According to GRAIN, more than half a million seed samples collected from farmers' fields have been transferred to a newly established national seed bank in Beijing, which now contains more than two million germplasm samples. In partnership with technology giant Tencent, authorities are developing a digital database of crop genetic resources to facilitate AI-assisted breeding and provide breeders with unprecedented access to these collections.
The report argues that while farmers may have expected stronger support for traditional seed-saving practices, the opposite has occurred. Public germplasm collections are increasingly being used to strengthen private breeding programs, while China has simultaneously accelerated the commercialization of genetically modified crops.
Since 2022, authorities have approved 64 GM maize varieties and 17 GM soybean varieties for cultivation across eight provinces, covering approximately 660,000 hectares. Most of these are insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant crops similar to first-generation GM technologies, which critics associate with increased dependence on agrochemicals. More than 40 companies—including Dabeinong, Syngenta, Longping, and China Seeds—have received licenses to market GM seeds.
The report further claims that despite farmers reporting yield reductions of around 20 percent for some new GM maize and soybean varieties, government support has continued through subsidies and demonstration projects. In Hebei, one of China's leading maize-producing provinces, farmers growing GM maize and soybeans reportedly receive subsidies worth about US$660 per hectare.
According to GRAIN, these developments leave farmers increasingly vulnerable. Their traditional seed-saving practices are undermined not only by changes in law and policy but also by the potential genetic contamination arising from expanding GM cultivation.
China's ambitions extend well beyond its domestic market. The report argues that the country is systematically expanding its presence in the global seed industry.
In April 2025, Uruguay approved cultivation of three GM soybean varieties developed by Beijing-based Dabeinong. These varieties had already been approved in Argentina and Brazil. Meanwhile, Longping has established a strong presence across Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Uruguay, transforming itself within a decade into one of Latin America's major seed suppliers in a market previously dominated by Western corporations such as Corteva and Bayer.
The company's African expansion has been equally significant. Longping Agriscience Tanzania markets soybean, maize, and sorghum varieties developed in Brazil for Tanzanian farmers, while another subsidiary—Hunan Longping Hi-tech Africa Agricultural Development Co.—coordinates seed operations across Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia, and Ethiopia.
According to GRAIN, this outward expansion serves multiple objectives. It strengthens China's control over international grain supply chains, facilitates acquisition of foreign germplasm and breeding technologies, and expands Chinese seed companies' share of global markets. By 2025, Longping had reportedly collected more than 8,000 maize germplasm resources from North and South America, while overseas operations accounted for nearly half of its seed revenues.
The report also highlights Syngenta's growing role in advanced breeding technologies under China's Seed Revitalisation agenda. Working alongside AI firms Instadeep and Biographica, Syngenta is combining artificial intelligence with CRISPR gene-editing technologies to develop new crop varieties, reflecting a broader trend toward technology-intensive agriculture.
Southeast Asia represents another important frontier. Unlike Latin America, where state-owned enterprises often dominate Chinese investment, Southeast Asia has attracted Chinese agribusinesses of varying sizes because of its geographical proximity. Under the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement, the Fish and Rice Corridor project was launched in Cambodia's Kampong Chhnang Province in 2025. Rice and fish produced under this project are intended primarily for export to China through new cold-chain transport infrastructure.
According to GRAIN, local communities have already raised concerns about increased chemical use in hybrid rice cultivation and pollution associated with industrial aquaculture. The report argues that China's expanding food strategy is transforming large areas across Latin America, Africa, and Asia into export-oriented production zones serving Chinese markets, while simultaneously making these regions increasingly dependent on Chinese seeds and agricultural technologies.
The report concludes that these developments are steadily eroding farmers' seed sovereignty both within China and internationally. Generations of Chinese farmers who conserved the country's remarkable agricultural biodiversity now find themselves marginalized as the seeds collected from their own fields become commercial assets controlled by large corporations.
China's government and agribusiness corporations undoubtedly view these developments as evidence of technological progress and national strength. Yet there is another perspective that deserves serious consideration. Critics continue to warn about the environmental, ecological, and socio-economic risks associated with GM crops—including gene-edited crops—the erosion of agricultural biodiversity, the growing concentration of seed ownership in a handful of corporations, and the disruption of local food systems through export-oriented agricultural models.
For decades, these concerns were directed primarily at Western agribusiness multinationals. If current trends continue, however, Chinese agribusiness corporations may increasingly invite the same criticisms—and, in some respects, may even surpass their Western counterparts in extending corporate control over the world's food systems.
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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener of the Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include A Day in 2071, Planet in Peril, and India's Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food. His website is bharatdogra.in
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