Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture indicate that the number of applications for the new plant varieties' rights is increasing at an average annual rate of above 40 percent.  By the end of the first quarter of this year, the ministry received 4049 applications in the aggregate.  The number of annual applications was listed in the first four places since China became a member of the International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties in 2004.

The 3rd Session of the National Agricultural Products Authorized Varieties Display and the Plant Varieties' Rights Fair was held in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province on May 10, 2007, at which, Zhang Fengtong, head of the ministry's Working Office for the Protection of New Plant Varieties and director-general of the Science and Technology Education Department released the above-mentioned statistics.  This year is the 10th anniversary for the promulgation of the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China for the Protection of the New Plant Varieties".  Zhang said that this system for the protection of the new plant varieties has motivated the enthusiasm of the society in making capital investment in the breeding undertaking.  The number of applications for the plant varieties' rights by the enterprises and individuals account for more than one-third of the total number of domestic applications.  As a result, the integration capacity of the seeds enterprises in breeding, reproducing processing and marketing has been enhanced.

Moreover, protection for the new varieties of plants has also energetically promoted the international cooperation in the agricultural sector.  Zhang said that by the end of March this year, there were 150 applications in China for the protection of new varieties of flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees from abroad, promoting the import of good new varieties from overseas and the export of agricultural products from China.  Besides, the total number of the examined varieties of China's rice, millet, wheat, barley, soybean, rape and cotton increased by 96.63 percent, an annual average increase of 13.33 percent, compared with the putting into effect of the Protection Regulations before and after its promulgation.  A batch of new varieties of plants and their combination with independent intellectual property right such as Yang Rice No.6 emerged.  Our statistics on 500 authorized varieties and applied varieties indicate that 640 million mu of land in the aggregate had been popularized, achieving a newly-added social benefit of RMB 22.37 billion.

It was learned that one of the special features of this session was the participation of the foreign variety rights owners in the fair for the first time.  They included those from Japan and the ROK who were granted Certificate for Variety Rights.

The new varieties of plants refer to those plant varieties that are developed either through artificial breeding or from wide plants, having originality, specificity, uniformity and stability as well as proper names.  No unit or individual is allowed, without the permission of the variety rights owner, to produce or market the reproducing materials of the authorized varieties for commercial purpose, and to use the said materials once more for the production of another kind of variety.