BEIJING, July 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SEED) (the "Company" or "Origin"), an agriculture technology company, today announced that the Company has entered into a collaboration agreement with National Maize Improvement Center of China (NMICC), a leading agricultural research institute, to develop and commercialize new GMO corn traits.
NMICC has a strong history of success in developing new varieties of corn, having developed 64 hybrids, that are grown on more than 30 million hectares, accounting for approximately 15% of all the corn grown in China. NMICC has invested significant resources and spent many years developing new GMO corn traits in anticipation of China going GMO positive.
This collaboration marks the first time that Origin has worked with NMICC, thus expanding on the company's already rich alliances with agricultural R&D institutions in China.
"We are pleased to be working with Origin Agritech, as we have followed their progress over the years and have been extremely impressed," said Director of NMICC Jingsheng Lai. "They are one of only a couple of GMO seed companies in China that is vertically integrated, making them the ideal partner, with all the capabilities necessary to take new seed traits to market."
"NMICC is famous in the agricultural community in China for their development of new varieties of corn," said Dr. Gengchen Han, Origin's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited to partner with them, as I am confident that together we will help to increase domestic corn production and also reduce the usage of toxic pesticides by bringing innovative corn seed traits to market."
About National Maize Improvement Center of China
National Maize Improvement Center of China (NMICC) was Jointly established in 1998 by the Ministry of Agriculture and China Agriculture University (CAU), the NMICC focuses on breeding of maize varieties and the study of GMO crops. Since its founding, the NMICC has produced 64 commercial maize hybrids and several GMO corn traits and planted more than 30 million hectares of corn—approximately 15% of all the corn in China.
About Origin Agritech Limited
Origin Agritech Limited, founded in 1997 and headquartered in Zhong-Guan-Cun (ZGC) Life Science Park in Beijing, is China's leading agricultural technology. In crop seed biotechnologies, Origin Agritech's phytase corn was the first transgenic corn to receive the Bio-Safety Certificate from China's Ministry of Agriculture. Over the years, Origin has established a robust biotechnology seed pipeline including products with glyphosate tolerance and pest resistance (Bt) traits. For further information, please visit the Company's website at: http://www.originseed.com.cn or http://www.originseed.com.cn/en/.
Forward-Looking Statements
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