Climate change: Beijing must provide more financial support, guidance to develop China’s cultivated protein sector, NGO says

Name: Scientists in Japan create 3D-printed Wagyu beef
Uploaded: 2022-09-19T10:45:08.000Z
Duration: 2 min 25 s
Description: Scientists in Japan create 3D-printed Wagyu beef

More help is needed from China’s government to guide researchers and companies in the cultured meat sector, says non-profit organisation

Synthetic meat companies ‘need clear guidelines, well-defined standards’ on how to evaluate safety and manufacturing processes

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Synthetic meat technology is seen as a promising method of producing healthier and more sustainable protein. Photo: Shutterstock

Yujie Xue

Published: 6:45pm, 19 Sep 2022Updated: 7:10pm, 19 Sep 2022

Beijing should provide more financial and policy support to establish an open-access research ecosystem to avoid duplication of efforts by start-ups and accelerate the growth of China’s alternative protein industry, according to food awareness organisation ProVeg.

China has been increasingly voicing its support for the development of plant- and cell-based proteins, and Chinese scientists have declared cultured meat is nearing mass industrialisation.

But more help is needed from the government to guide the researchers and companies in the cultured meat sector, said Sebastian Joy, president of ProVeg International, a non-profit organisation that raises food awareness.

“Cultured meat companies will need help to launch their products and thrive in any market,” said Joy. “Companies in this sector have a tendency to work in silos, duplicating efforts and wasting resources so it’s very important for governments to fund foundational research.”

Synthetic meat technology – which enables the growth of meat by cultivating animal cells in a laboratory – is seen as a promising method of producing healthier and more sustainable protein.

02:25

Scientists in Japan create 3D-printed Wagyu beef

In July, a group of researchers from Tsinghua University and Nanjing Agricultural University said they had developed a new “cell factory” to accelerate the expansion of lab-grown animal cells, making it possible to industrialise cultured meat.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x