Nanjiecun Group, which has been famous in China as one of the best managed township enterprises, is now accused of making illegal profit by selling fake soybean seeds.
According to Chinese media, Nanjiecun Group claimed in 2003 that it had developed a kind of soybean seed called Aviation No. 2 in cooperation with Aviation Seed-breeding Research Center. The company said as the seed had undergone gene transformation during a space trip, it could help increase the average per mu production to up to 350 kilograms. After hearing this, many farmers, and most of whom were from Northeast China, bought the seed at prices which were several times higher than the price of other kinds of soybean seeds, but it later turned out that they all suffered great loss as the seed did not bring them the expected amount of produce.
One village called Shuanglong Village in Yushu City of Jilin Province was said to have lost more than RMB1 million after using the Aviation No. 2 seed. The leader of the village said that due to the reputation of Nancunjie Group, they never doubted the quality of the seed. Nancunjie Group reportedly made huge profit through the selling of the seeds though the performance of its other businesses was not so good.
After the fake seed of Nanjiecun Group was exposed by the media, Song Yongcheng, director of Aviation Seed-breeding Research Center, and Qin Tianjun, deputy director of the Center, both denied that they had ever cooperated with Nanjiecun Group. Sun said that there was no such a thing as Aviation No. 2 soybean seed and the Center had never participated in the breeding of the seed. In addition, China's Soybean Seed Review List from 1989 to 2006 also showed that there was no such kind of seed ever reviewed by the Chinese authority, which further proved that Nanjiecun was selling fake seeds to farmers.
Njiecun Group is located in Henan province and is known as one of the top-ranking national enterprises in China.
