Dr. Jiayang Li, the Vice Present of CAS and Mr. Yao Sun, the Vice Governor of Heilongjiang Province signed the collaboration agreements to establish the CAS Molecular Breeding Center of Japonica Rice in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province on 18 September.

The CAS institutes, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Institute of Botany, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, and Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, and Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences are the major members of the joint center. This center will focus on the stabilization and increase of yields of Japonica Rice in northeast part of China.