Farmers are illegally growing genetically modified corn in China's northeast, said the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace on Wednesday in a report that may generate further distrust of the government's ability to ensure a safe food supply.
Beijing has spent billions of dollars to develop GMO crops that it hopes will ensure food supplies for its people but has not yet approved commercial cultivation amid deep-seated anti-GMO sentiment.
The Greenpeace report seems to confirm concerns that Beijing will be unable to supervise the planting of GMO crops once commercial cultivation is permitted, leading to widespread contamination of the food chain with GM varieties.