‘World’s largest animal cloning factory’ due to start production in Tianjin next year: Chief investor promises 100,000 cattle embryos in first year

The world’s largest animal cloning factory under construction in Tianjin in northern China is 80 per cent complete and is likely to be brought on stream in the first half of next year, a news website reported, citing the factory’s major investor.

The commercial animal cloning centre in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area is a joint venture by Sinica , Peking University’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biomedicine and South Korea’s Sooam Biotech Research Foundation.

Sinica is a subsidiary of Wuxi-based Boyalife Group which focuses on stem cell and regenerative medicine research.

READ MORE: China to build world’s biggest animal cloning factory in Tianjin

Xu Xiaochun, the chairman of Boyalife, said investment in the first phase of the project was 200 million yuan (HK$240 million) and the total investment would reach 3 billion yuan, the Shanghai-based news website Thepaper.cn reported.

He was quoted as saying that the final amount of investment might reach US$1 billion.

Xu said the factory would clone high-quality breeds on a large scale, including sniffer dogs, racehorses and high-grade beef cattle.

Most of the technologies will be introduced by South Korea’s Sooam research foundation, while the Chinese side would provide all the funding and some of the technologies.