Editor's Note: CGTN invites media outlets in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China to share their distinctive reports on regional economic development on the CGTN website, offering global readers a comprehensive economic landscape of the world's second-largest economy.

At the Nanfan Breeding Base in the city of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, a number of new soybean varieties are entering the harvest season. "Nanfan" means southern seed breeding in Chinese, where scientists capitalize on Hainan's climate and species for crop breeding, parental breeding, plant identification and seed production. Having a unique advantage in light and temperature, Sanya plays an important role in accelerating the process of soybean breeding. From October through April each year, hundreds of scientists and technicians from all over the country gather here to conduct breeding research.

At the Soybean Seed Breeding Base in Sanya, more than 40,000 soybean germplasm resources were planted in the five or so hectares of test plots. It may take 10 years or longer for soybeans, which are a typical self-pollinating crop, from parent selection to variety selection. The excellent climate in Sanya can shorten the breeding cycle to five to seven years. After years' development, the Nanfan Breeding Base has become a "breeding paradise" for researchers. Data shows that more than 20,000 new varieties of staple crops have been bred in Nanfan, accounting for more than 70% of the new varieties bred in the country.

Since September 2023, Nanfan Base has sped up scientific and technological innovation and established an industrial innovation platform. Smart agriculture has been applied to monitor the insect conditions, soil quality, water quality and climate of the base. It has also introduced CRO services and R&D outsourcing services for the whole process of breeding.

At present, Hainan is leveraging its advantages in climate, marine resources, geography and ecological environment to promote the formation of the major technological innovation hubs of the seed, marine and aviation industries. It has become an important part of the development of new productive forces. As an indispensable part of seed industry innovation, Nanfan has applied innovative means to create high-tech, high-efficiency and high-quality new productive forces with Hainan's climate advantages.

In recent years, Hainan has accelerated the construction of the Nanfan Breeding Base. Key laboratories on saline-alkali tolerant rice and tropical crops have been put into operation. A biological breeding innovation platform was built with the largest number, the largest space and the most complete system in the country, becoming a benchmark for sci-tech innovation in the seed industry.

On January 31, the Construction Plan for building the National Nanfan Silicon Valley was released in Sanya. According to the plan, the Nanfan Breeding Base is set to become a national seed industry innovation base by 2025, and by 2030, the base aims to evolve into a "Silicon Valley" of China's seed industry, integrating scientific research, production, sales, scientific and technological exchanges, and the transformation of research results that serve the whole country. In the future, the Nanfan Base will continue to infuse Hainan's strength into the development of China's seed industry, fostering new productive forces to become one of the prominent features of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

(Cover: Nanfan Breeding Base in south China's Hainan Province. /Sansha Satellite TV)