Reuters reported on 4 February, 2016 that the American giant of seed and agrochemicals Monsanto announced the day before its success in obtaining China’s official agreement on importing its new-generation genetically modified (GM) soybean Roundup Ready 2 Xtend. This variety of soybean, developed by Monsanto, is tolerant to both glyphosate and dicamba. Monsanto estimated the soybean would be grown in around 3 million acres of the United States this spring, and by 2019 two thirds of the nation’s total soybean planting area would be occupied by this variety.

According to a report of domestic media Caijing Magazine in China, illegal cultivation of GM corn was found by an environmental protection organization - Greenpeace. On 6 Jan., 2016, Greenpeace released a survey, which said that illegal GM corn has been found in several major corn production areas in Liaoning Province, China, throughout seed sales, cultivation, market circulation and other segments of corn industry,