How China plans to lead the world in sustainable food with latest five-year agricultural development plan
- Lab-grown meat and plant-based eggs among food production technologies that will be supported to cut reliance on overseas know-how
- Inclusion of cultivated meat in the five-year plan will drive more research funding and investment in the nascent industry, says Ziliang Yang of start-up CellX
China’s decision to include alternative proteins in its five-year agricultural development plan shows Beijing’s desire to nurture home-grown technology to ensure sustainable food supply, industry watchers say.
Lab-grown meat, plant-based eggs and recombinant protein production are among the food production technologies that will be supported, according to the 2021-25 blueprint published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs last month. Recombinant protein production, also known as precision fermentation, can “programme” microorganisms to manufacture dairy and meat from animal or plant cells.
“By 2025, [we] strive to make major progress on indigenous innovations in various areas currently subject to high reliance on foreign technology,” the document said, adding it aims to build a “low carbon, sustainable, smart and integrated” agricultural system.
The policy is one of the most important in the history of alternative protein innovation that would open up “massive opportunities”, said Andrew Noyes, head of global communications at San Francisco-based start-up Eat Just, which sells mung-bean based egg substitutes in China.
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China needs to feed its 1.4 billion people, around one fifth of the world’s population. Ensuring food security has become a more urgent political priority for Beijing’s new development strategy and cut reliance on imports.