US, China making progress on biotech crop talks: USDA's Vilsack

[CHICAGO] The United States and China are making progress on talks over Beijing's acceptance of new biotechnology for crops, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Wednesday.

The countries are "moving toward an understanding of how we might be able to establish a strategic dialogue on biotechnology," Mr Vilsack told China Vice Premier Wang Yang in a bilateral meeting in Chicago.

Biotech crops are a key trade issue between the countries because China has rejected more than one million tons of US corn containing traces of a type of genetically modified corn, Agrisure Viptera, in the past year. The strain, developed by Syngenta AG, is approved for planting in the United States but not for import by Beijing.

REUTERS