In a move that is indicative of the rapidly expanding GMO food market worldwide, China is set to initiate a nationwide poll next month to gauge public approval of genetically modified food.
This action is the result of increasing food consumption for the average Chinese citizen, whose diet is beginning to mirror the average American's. Not only will China have to provide for the burgeoning appetites of its own 1.4 billion people, but it will also need to cater to the additional 2 billion individuals that the growing populations of South America, Asia and Africa will yield within the next generation.
The question that remains is: how will China's primeval agricultural industry be able to meet growing demand in time to avert nothing short of an impending food crisis? The Chinese government seems to think that the employment of biotechnology in the form of GMO's is the answer.
As the world's fourth largest producer of GMO cotton, China is also attempting to start a social media campaign that will bolster basic knowledge about GMO technology, which is widely misunderstood by citizens. This may be the result of the failed 2012 Golden Rice trial in which the yellow GMO variant was allegedly fed to children without parents knowing about its genetic modifications. Moreover, people are still concerned about the potential negative side effects of GMO's, including its perception as a carcinogenic. In terms of policy-making however, the ultimate decision depends on the tradeoff between meeting national economic demands efficiently and taking into account people's personal preferences and health choices.
This same tradeoff is reflected in the American FDA's approval of GMO's for consumption. While this represents a much more advanced stage in the battle for biotechnology as opposed to China where the idea of GMO's is only just being explored, both policy directions are built upon the same framework.
Considering that the global GMO food market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2% by 2021 due to the overall need for increased production capacity and longer shelf life for nutritious food items, it is likely that the U.S. will gain a comparative advantage through exporting its products. Currently in the U.S, 86% of corn, 93% of soybean and 90% of cotton are genetically engineered. By contrast, in Canada only four kinds of genetically modified crops are grown. Hence, keeping in mind the emergence of nations like China and India on the global economic front with accelerating GDP's, it would make sense for China to adopt the use of GMO's to be more economically competitive and aid its growth.
Big steps are also being taken in the research of biotechnology. There are currently multiple EU-funded projects such as the BIOFORCE project funded by the EU's European Research Council that attempt to improve the nutritional quality of food crops. There is also currently a new type of GMO being developed that are more precise and pose a lower risk of causing unintended changes to the DNA. However, the European Commission has not taken a definitive stance on whether the new techniques will fall under the EU's GMO legislation; this is again a product of the immense controversy that surrounds this field.
Yet, as the Chinese government pushes for the adoption of GMO's, it is clear that ultimately the citizens will decide what stays: "If the government pushes ahead before the public is ready to accept the technology, it would be embarrassing -- like offering a pot of half-cooked rice to eat."