The saline-alkali tolerant wheat harvest has begun in large areas across China. Since 2011, a research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has cultivated saline-alkali and drought-tolerant wheat varieties such as Xiaoyan 60 and Xiaoyan 155. They have been planted in more than 4 million mu (around 266,000 hectares) of medium-low yield fields in the low plains around the Bohai Sea. Experts from the CAS said that modern biotechnology will be used to cultivate new varieties of wheat that reduce loss and promote stability in the saline-alkali environment.

Some areas of Cangzhou City in Hebei Province lack freshwater resources and have high salt content in the soil. The situation has changed with the introduction of new wheat varieties selected by the CAS and other scientific research institutes.