Favorable climate and forward-looking policies are turning Hainan into a global hub for advanced seed breeding.
Seed breeding researchers nurture new varieties of seeds in fields near Sanyan City, Hainan Province, on February 12, 2025.
Every winter, as farming activity in northern China slows to a near standstill due to harsh weather conditions, thousands of breeding experts head to Hainan to continue seed breeding research.
Seeds are essential for agricultural production. China’s “No. 1 central document” for 2025, released in February, clearly states the need to utilize major agricultural research platforms to accelerate the development of innovative varieties.
Located between 18 and 20 degrees north latitude, Hainan is China’s only fully tropical province. With no real winter and abundant rainfall, it is ideal for year-round crop cultivation. The province is utilizing its climatic advantages to further grow its seed industry through supportive policies.
The Futuristic City for Nanfan, which means offseason seed breeding, is a seed breeding base in Sanya, Hainan. By providing an additional growing season during the winter, it plays a key role in accelerating China’s crop breeding efforts.
Breeding Migration
According to Li Yichao, a researcher at the National Nanfan Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, most crops can be grown only once per year. The number of generations required for breeding new varieties varies based on the crop type, breeding objectives, and methods. Conventional breeding typically requires six to 10 generations. Due to significant differences in crop growth cycles and breeding goals, traditional breeding often takes 5-15 years to complete. Thanks to Nanfan, this breeding duration has been greatly shortened.
Taking rice as an example, China's most influential hybrid rice variety was developed through the Nanfan process. It was in Hainan that academician Yuan Longping discovered the male sterile line essential for hybrid rice. Generally, in central and southern China such as Hunan and Hubei provinces, rice can be cultivated twice a year, while in the northeastern region, only one crop is possible. To accelerate the breeding process, researchers move to places like Sanya and Lingshui in Hainan before winter to continue their work, thus improving the efficiency of rice breeding.
Relying on its tropical climate and rich genetic resources, the Futuristic City in Hainan is being developed into a modern center for year-round seed breeding research, with advanced research mechanisms and facilities.
Technological Innovation
Seed breeding is undergoing a transformation, with the traditional experience-based methods giving way to precision breeding powered by biotechnology, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI).
For instance, one test plot features 84 varieties of corn from different regions across China, each showing different heights and growth patterns despite being grown under the same environmental conditions.
Suspended above the plot is a rail-mounted high-throughput plant phenotyping platform measuring 21 meters wide and 5.7 meters high. As one of the world’s leading scientific facilities for field-based crop phenotyping, it is primarily used to collect and analyze phenotypic data of crops such as rice, cotton, soybeans, and corn.
“By conducting high-throughput phenotypic analysis of different corn varieties in this experimental field, researchers can more quickly and accurately identify germplasm resources with desirable traits, laying a solid foundation for subsequent breeding efforts,” said Li. This facility can complete data collection for a single germplasm sample in 30 seconds, allowing data collection for the entire experimental field to be completed in one night. The facility can operate even under adverse weather conditions.
The advanced data collection methods significantly enhance breeding efficiency, while the use of new technology to induce internal genetic mutations within seeds represents a major innovation in modern breeding. At the Sanya Electron Accelerator Mutagenesis Breeding Laboratory, researchers use electron beams or X-rays to precisely irradiate seeds and living plants. This technique enables efficient and controlled induction of genetic mutations, making it possible to rapidly develop diverse traits and generate a rich pool of germplasm resources for crop improvement.
The electron beam radiation technology can reduce the breeding cycle of new crop varieties from the traditional 5-6 years to 2-3 years. Compared to traditional methods, this technique features higher biological efficiency and mutation rates, while being environmentally friendly. Since mutation materials are the core of breeding, this technology not only accelerates the research and development process of new crop varieties, but also enhances the genetic resource base for the long-term development of China’s seed industry.
The laboratory closely collaborates with several domestic universities and research institutions, and actively participates in space-based breeding research, providing technical support for modern agricultural breeding.
Gathering Talent
The development of high-quality seeds in China is strongly supported by the talent policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP).
Fifty years ago, when Chinese researchers first arrived in Hainan, there were very few research institutions permanently based on the island, and the research teams were scattered and communicated very little. Today, a robust talent pool has emerged and is driving innovation in breeding.
The Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City is home to more than 2,800 Nanfan enterprises. A total of 34 seed industry research platforms have been built or are under construction, equipped with 14,000 research instruments. These resources have supported 536 agriculture-related projects, and contributed to 27 key technology collaborative research projects, marking a transition to collective innovation.
With the acceleration of interdisciplinary collaboration, an increasing number of professionals from biotechnology, AI and related fields are converging in Hainan. The opening-up policies of the Hainan FTP have also facilitated international scientific research collaboration, attracting a large number of foreign scientists to participate in exchanges each year. For example, Felix Dapare Dakora, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former president of the African Academy of Sciences, became the first full-time foreign breeding expert at Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City.
The improvement in the facilities and support services is allowing researchers to fully focus on their work. “Now, the children of researchers can attend nearby schools, and the needs of daily life are accommodated,” said Li.
With the promotion of the Hainan FTP, the Nanfan base is evolving from a domestic agricultural hub into a global breeding center. China is strengthening international cooperation in seed resources, supporting seed development efforts around the world. 
LIU XUEYUN is a reporter at China Report.
