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A variety of concerns stands in the way in both the US and in China

Reporter: Li Sien, Wu Yang 丨 CCTV.com

05-10-2016 01:10 BJT

ChinaChem has offered 43 billion US dollars to take over Swiss seeds and pesticides producer Syngenta. The deal faces obstacles in both the US and in China. About 400 Chinese have signed a letter protesting the takeover, saying genetically modified crops pose health risks. Meanwhile, four US senators are worried about their country's food security. That's because Sygenta gets 27 percent of its income selling food seeds in North America. Ying Junyi spoke to the stakeholders in the mega M&A deal.

The Chinese protestors say Syngenta's products are poisonous in one way or another. In their letter to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the protestors urge ChemChina to "immediately stop this suicidal acquisition." We talked to Yang Xiaolu, one of the protesters -- a long-time opponent of genetically modified organisms, or GMO. He claims rats fed a diet of genetically modified crops suffer widespred organ damage and premature death.

We are giving our blood, sweat and money for this poisonous company, it's like we paying others to bury ourselves. Syngenta owns thousands of genetically modified seeds, which are prohibited in Europe, and in many Asian, African and American countries. It doesn't have any overseas markets. Aside from genetically modified seeds, the company also sells toxic herbicides.

So, are genetically-modified grains really harmful? We visted Chen Xiaoya, a GMO researcher at Chinese Academy of Sciences. He says China started research on genetically modified crops at the end of the 1970s. By adding favorable genes to a target species, the genetically modified seeds produce crops with specific desired characteristics.

The techonology lets us design plants with features we want, such as being insect-free and therefore giving a stable output. Insects are the biggest threat to grains, and cause us large losses. From our observations, gene modification is safe, and there is no substantial research saying that it causes negative effects to people's or animals' health. Most genetically modified grains are now used as animal feed. I think it's a good techomology.

The US ranks first in genetically modified crop area, whereas China ranks 6th. The proposed takeover of Syngenta is part of the Chinese government's gradual move to increase the cultivation of GM staple food crops.

We haven't promoted genetically modified crops widely so far. But of the edible bean oil we eat, for example, China only produce 2 to 3 million tons every year. What about the 80 million tons a year we import? It's very likely that comes from genetically modified beans. So I think people are being unfair about genetically modified organisms. Considering people's anxieties, however, the government will start from putting modified grains into the food chain indirectly, such as with feed corn, so that our staple foods stay the way they are for now.

The ChemChina-Syngenta deal is also going to have to proceed carefully on the US side. Syngenta supplies 10% of US soybean seeds and 6% of the country's corn seeds, and US action could kill the deal. Concerned senators have requested a review by the US Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as by the Treasury department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the US. The last time the committee reviewed a Chinese purchase of an American food supplier, it was approved. Concerns over a refusal are substantial, however. If Syngenta had to back out of the deal, the break fee it might have to pay could be as much as 848 million dollars.

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