beijing dec 6 reuters  as china prepares to open its 120 billion corn market to genetically modified gm seed littleknown dabeinong biotechnology hopes to reap the benefits of early biotech investments and a law keeping foreign firms on the sidelines the longanticipated commercialization of gm corn in the worlds no 2 producer is set to significantly boost yields reducing the need for imports it may also spur hopedfor reform of a chaotic and oversupplied seed sector industry experts say creating a new multibillion dollar market that may eventually open up to global seed giants new regulations drafted last month lay out for the first time the steps needed in china for approval of corn varieties that integrate gm traits paving the way for the market to open as early as next year beijing has made clear it will champion homegrown leaders in seed technology and dabeinong is the larger of two local companies with an insectresistant and herbicidetolerant corn already approved as safe by the agriculture ministry for the first two years because were the first mover in the market and we believe our technology is better well have two thirds of the share general manager liu shi told reuters by the third year even with more competition it could generate around 1 billion yuan 155 million in royalties he estimated the company will rely on seed breeders using its traits to generate revenues dabeinong biotechnology was founded in 2011 as a unit of large animal feed producer beijing dabeinong technology group co ltd 002385sz the parent firm made headlines in the united states after a senior executive was among several people charged with stealing corn seed from fields in iowa and illinois the executive the brotherinlaw of group founder shao genhuo was jailed for three years in 2016 dabeinong strictly abides by the law and is trying to rebuild its image said liu who joined the company earlier this year he previously worked at monsanto now part of germanys bayer baygnde in the 1990s when the gm pioneer was trying to get its first products accepted dabeinong with a staff of 160 hopes to emulate the success of the us seed giant but above all wants to help farmers liu said for now dabeinongs corn traits use genes that were discovered and commercialised by other firms but are offpatent the biotech firm is working on its own genes although these are yet to be approved it may need to move quickly before its metoo products lose their value said an executive at a multinational seed company who declined to be named to ensure its firstmover advantage dabeinong is hiring more commercial staff and in september invited seed companies to visit trial plots in inner mongolia and henan province planted with corn containing its fengmai brand traits it has licensing deals with almost 200 seed firms early demand is likely to be strong china harvested 261 million tonnes of corn in 202021 from some 41 million hectares largely to feed its huge herds of pigs and chickens each hectare however yielded only about 60 as much corn on average as in no 1 producer the united states about 70 of corn seed sold in chinas northeast breadbasket is already illegally bred gm seed said an october article in the statebacked china seed industry journal highlighting its popularity with farmers but dabeinong wont be alone for long though global seed giants like usbased corteva inc ctvan and bayer cannot enter chinas gm market syngenta the worlds no 3 seed producer owned by chinas sinochem holdings expects to become market leader according to the prospectus for its upcoming ipo syngenta is a major player in gm grains but as it was only bought in 2017 is still playing catchup in china in the drawnout process to win biosafety certificates for its gm traits from regulators hangzhou ruifeng biotechnology a tiny firm founded by university professor shen zhicheng has an insectresistant herbicidetolerant trait approved as safe by beijing the company also uses some new genes yuan longping hightech agriculture co ltd 000998sz backed by stateowned conglomerate citic is also developing gm traits meanwhile the exact timing of gm corn is still uncertain under the new rules seed varieties that integrate gm traits must undergo a oneyear production trial and it is not clear if beijing will accept data already gathered by dabeinong we have two plans a more aggressive one for commercial seed production in 2022 and another for 2023 said liu were waiting for the governments message