China has approved multiple genetically modified crops.

Reuters reported last week that China had approved its first strain of GM rice, following on from the approval of a type of GM corn a week earlier. Now Bloomberg says “several corn and rice varieties” have been approved.

“This approval signals a big step forward in China’s progress in endorsing genetically modified technology,” Li Qiang, managing director at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co, told Bloomberg.

The Wall Street Journal agrees, saying the approval is a “major step toward endorsing the use of biotechnology in the staple food crop of billions of people in Asia”.

However, while Reuters says the rice has been approved for “for commercial production” the WSJ says it has been deemed “safe to produce and consume” and “further approvals are required before the strains can be grown on a commercial scale”.