The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs held a press conference on July 27th to discuss the implementation of the Essentially Derived Variety (EDV) system and progress in protecting intellectual property rights within the seed industry. Liu Lihua, Director of the Ministry's Seed Industry Management Department and head of the Plant Variety Protection Office, stated that innovation is the internal driving force for revitalizing the seed industry. A robust system for protecting seed industry intellectual property is a crucial pillar for continuously stimulating innovation and advancing the seed industry revitalization campaign.
Liu Lihua explained that the Ministry, in coordination with relevant departments, has adopted strong measures. By comprehensively utilizing legal, economic, technical, and administrative tools, and focusing on five key areas—legislation, judiciary, enforcement, management, and technical support—they have consistently increased efforts to protect intellectual property rights. This approach has effectively purified the seed industry market, with a comprehensive framework for seed industry IP protection now largely established.
On the legislative front: In 2021, the National People's Congress Standing Committee amended the Seed Law, expanding the scope and stages of new plant variety protection and establishing the Essentially Derived Variety system. In 2025, the State Council comprehensively revised the Regulations on the Protection of New Plant Varieties, clarifying the implementation steps and methods for the EDV system. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is implementing the Seed Law and the revised regulations, accelerating the revision of supporting rules such as implementing regulations and the review committee's adjudication rules to strengthen the protection of agricultural new plant varieties.
On the judicial front: The Ministry signed a cooperation memorandum on seed industry IP protection with the Supreme People's Court. It has successively issued the latest judicial interpretations on infringement dispute cases and guidelines on strengthening criminal adjudication related to seeds. This strengthens the connection between administrative enforcement and judicial protection, fully leveraging the important role of judicial trials in safeguarding seed industry IP.
On the enforcement front: The Ministry has jointly issued guidance on protecting seed industry IP and combating counterfeiting, shoddy goods, and IP infringement with public security, procuratorial, judicial, industrial, market regulation, and national IP authorities. It has conducted the National Seed Industry Supervision and Enforcement Year activity for six consecutive years. By comprehensively utilizing legal, economic, technical, and administrative means, it promotes full-chain, whole-process supervision and enforcement before, during, and after events, cracking down on illegal activities and forming a strong deterrent.
In terms of management: A special action for strengthening the full-chain management of varieties has been implemented. 20 targeted measures across six aspects have been formulated. These include strictly controlling testing and trial procedures, rigorously reviewing variety naming, origin, and novelty, and revoking over 4,000 problematic varieties and imitation seed varieties. More than 100 cases of plant variety protection and rights enforcement have been published to serve as warnings and promote governance, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of variety rights holders.
In terms of technical support: The Ministry has established a national variety testing technical system comprising one new variety testing center, 27 testing sub-centers, and 6 testing stations. It has published 264 technical standards for plant variety testing and 52 molecular technical standards for crop variety identification. An Agricultural Plant New Variety Review Collaboration Center has been established in the Hainan Free Trade Port, providing strong technical support for seed industry IP protection.
Looking ahead, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will aim to achieve self-reliance and self-controllability in seed industry science and technology. It will continue to implement the seed industry revitalization campaign, accelerating the implementation of full-chain and whole-process supervision. It will persistently strengthen seed industry IP protection, foster a favorable environment that protects breeding innovation and incentivizes original creation, and cultivate more breakthrough varieties. This will provide a foundation for ensuring the stable and safe supply of grain and other important agricultural products.