Gansu province held a press conference on the 22nd, announcing that Zhangye City, China's largest hybrid corn seed production base, aims to become a highland for the nation's modern seed industry development. Over the next five years, the city plans to stabilize its corn seed production area at 1.1 million mu and strive to achieve an annual seed output of 600 million kilograms.

The press conference, part of a series themed "Starting the '15th Five-Year Plan' – Striving to Write the Gansu Chapter of Chinese Modernization," was held in Lanzhou with a special focus on Zhangye.

Zhangye is renowned as the "golden zone" for corn seed production, supplying one out of every two corn seeds used in China. Seeds from Zhangye are known for their plump kernels, bright color, and germination rates, purity, and cleanliness that exceed global quality standards. The city's corn seed production area has remained stable at over 1.1 million mu for five consecutive years, with an annual output exceeding 450 million kilograms.

Zhangye Vice Mayor Lu Sidong stated that the city will focus on fostering 5 to 10 leading enterprises with core technological strength. The goal is to have over 10 integrated enterprises engaged in breeding, propagation, and promotion, building competitive capabilities in cutting-edge fields like smart breeding and bio-breeding to rival major domestic and international seed industry players.

Lu Sidong added that the city will leverage the Zhangye National Corn Seed Industrial Park to actively cultivate seed export enterprises. Concurrently, it will comprehensively upgrade and transform the corn seed production base, deeply applying technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data to build smart agriculture application scenarios.

Zhangye Mayor Ye'erboli · Zihan stated that the city will accelerate the development of a national corn seed processing base and distribution center. It will emphasize two key areas: cultivating leading enterprises and driving innovation in seed industry technology. The city will make every effort to establish a National Agricultural High-tech Industry Demonstration Zone, consolidating and enhancing its dominant position as a national corn seed production base.