In January 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) held a conference on market information of key agricultural products to inform the market operation of major agricultural products in 2017, and reminded that it was inappropriate to blindly expand corn planting in 2018 to avoid the situation of increasing output without increasing income.

On January 20, 2018, the US FDA Web (https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/?set=Biocon) published dossiers and related letters on the safety and nutritional evaluation report of GM insect-resistant rice "Huahui No.1" (华恢1号) submitted by Huazhong Agricultural University. On the website, US FDA informed that it has completed the consultation on the safety evaluation of "Huahui No.1".

On January 25, 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture promulgated a notice on 2018 agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMOs) supervision

On 30 Jan., 2018, Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals Co., Ltd. (Nantong Jiangshan) announced that its largest shareholder Sinochem International Corporation (Sinochem International) was planning to let out of its stake of 29.19% and was seeking potential transferees. As of 28 Jan., Sinochem International held altogether 86.7 million shares in Nantong Jiangshan.

In January 2018, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces in succession released their Proposal to Relocate and Reconstruct Hazardous Chemical Manufacturers in Highly Populated Urban Areas.

On 30 Jan., 2018, Nanjing Red Sun Co., Ltd. (Nanjing Red Sun) announced its decision to purchase a 60% share in Australian-owned agricultural company Ruralco.

On 23 January 2018, the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) made the 2018 No.6 Announcement, a move to project the anti-dumping investigation against the o-dichlorobenzene imported from Japan and India.

Zhejiang Wynca Chemical Group Co., Ltd.( Zhejiang Wynca) announced in January 2018 that it intended to acquire 14.7% of shares of Zhejiang Nongfeike Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. (Zhejiang Nongfeike) from Anyang Ximandi Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (Ximandi Fertilizer).

Researcher Yang Lijian from the Shandong Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals recently wrote on issues regarding whether business licence is a must for pesticide foreign trades.

The China Association of Pesticide Development and Application (CAPDA) recently organised the 2017 outstanding domestic pesticide brand selection, as a move to promote the development of domestic pesticides as well as the optimisation of supply-demand structure in the business. The following is the publicised list of outstanding brands appraised by professionals.