Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025)
Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025)
Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025)
Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No. 807
April 29, 2025
The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties, which were revised and adopted at the 57th Executive Meeting of the State Council on April 18, 2025, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of June 1, 2025.
Li Qiang, Premier
Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025)
(Promulgated by Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No. 213 on March 20, 1997; revised for the first time in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Revising the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties on January 31, 2013; revised for the second time in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Revising Certain Administrative Regulations on July 29, 2014; and revised for the third time in accordance with the Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No. 807 on April 29, 2025)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025) (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") are formulated in accordance with the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China in order to protect the rights in new plant varieties, encourage the breeding, dissemination, and application of new plant varieties, and promote the development of agriculture, forestry, and grassland industries.
Article 2 For the purposes of the Regulations, the term "new plant variety" refers to a plant variety that is bred through human cultivation or improved from a discovered wild plant and that possesses novelty, distinctness, uniformity, stability, and an adequately designated denomination.
Article 3 The protection of new plant varieties shall uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, implement the strategic arrangements of the Party and the State concerning intellectual property, promote innovation in breeding, and advance the high-quality development of the seed industry.
Article 4 The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall, according to their respective duties, be responsible for the protection of new plant varieties nationwide, and shall accept and examine applications for rights in new plant varieties and grant rights in new plant varieties (hereinafter referred to as the "variety rights") to those new plant varieties that comply with the provisions of the Regulations; they shall improve the testing system for new plant varieties, enhance the management of the preservation of propagating materials, strengthen publicity and training on the protection of new plant varieties, and conduct the relevant technological research.
The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland of the people's governments at the county level or above shall, according to their respective duties, be responsible for the protection of new plant varieties within their respective administrative regions.
Article 5 Entities and individuals that have made outstanding contributions in the breeding, dissemination, and application of new plant varieties shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with the relevant national regulations.
Article 6 The production, operation, and dissemination of a new plant variety in respect of which variety rights have been granted (hereinafter referred to as the "protected variety") shall comply with the provisions of the relevant laws and regulations on seed management.
Chapter II Content and Ownership of Variety Rights
Article 7 A holder of variety rights (hereinafter referred to as the "variety rights holder") shall have an exclusive right in respect of a protected variety. Unless otherwise provided by the laws or the Regulations, no entity or individual may, without the permission of the variety rights holder, commit any of the following acts by using the propagating material of the protected variety:
(1) Production, propagation, and acts carried out for the purpose of propagation;
(2) Offering for sale or sale;
(3) Import or export; and
(4) Storage for the purpose of conducting the acts referred to in Items (1) through (3) of this Paragraph.
Where the acts prescribed in the preceding paragraph involve harvested material that is obtained from the unauthorized use of the propagating material of the protected variety, permission from the variety rights holder shall be obtained; however, this provision shall not apply if the variety rights holder has already had a reasonable opportunity to exercise their rights in respect of the propagating material.
The following acts in respect of the varieties listed below shall require the permission of the variety rights holder of the protected variety:
(1) Essentially derived varieties of the protected variety, provided that the protected variety itself is not an essentially derived variety;
(2) Varieties that are not clearly distinguishable from the protected variety as specified in Article 16 of the Regulations; and
(3) Other varieties that are produced or propagated using the protected variety repeatedly for commercial purposes.
Article 8 The State shall implement the essentially derived variety system in stages. The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall determine the specific scope of implementation in the form of a catalog, which shall be submitted to the State Council for approval before its promulgation.
Essentially derived varieties shall be determined primarily on the basis of molecular detection and phenotypic testing results, with due consideration, where necessary, of factors such as breeding methods, breeding processes, and genetic relationships. The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall formulate guidelines for the determination of essentially derived varieties, specifying the scope of application, methods of detection and testing, decision thresholds, technical procedures, and the requirements to be met by detection and testing institutions.
The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall establish an expert database composed of specialists in breeding, detection, testing, administration, and law, to provide professional support for the implementation of the essentially derived variety system.
Article 9 In the case of job-related breeding accomplished through performing tasks for the entity or primarily by using the material and technical conditions of the entity, the right to file an application for variety rights shall belong to that entity; for breeding that is not job-related, the right to file such an application shall belong to the person accomplishing the breeding. Where breeding is accomplished by using the material and technical conditions of the entity, and the entity and the individual accomplishing the breeding have agreed by contract on the ownership of the right to file an application for variety rights, such agreement shall prevail.
In the case of commissioned breeding or cooperative breeding, the parties may agree by contract on the ownership of the right to file an application for variety rights; failing such an agreement, the right to file an application for variety rights shall belong to the entity or individual commissioned to conduct or jointly conduct the breeding.
Upon approval of the application, the variety rights shall belong to the applicant.
Article 10 One new plant variety shall be granted only one set of variety rights.
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Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No. 807
April 29, 2025
The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties, which were revised and adopted at the 57th Executive Meeting of the State Council on April 18, 2025, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of June 1, 2025.
Li Qiang, Premier
Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025)
(Promulgated by Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No. 213 on March 20, 1997; revised for the first time in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Revising the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties on January 31, 2013; revised for the second time in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Revising Certain Administrative Regulations on July 29, 2014; and revised for the third time in accordance with the Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No. 807 on April 29, 2025)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Revised in 2025) (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") are formulated in accordance with the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China in order to protect the rights in new plant varieties, encourage the breeding, dissemination, and application of new plant varieties, and promote the development of agriculture, forestry, and grassland industries.
Article 2 For the purposes of the Regulations, the term "new plant variety" refers to a plant variety that is bred through human cultivation or improved from a discovered wild plant and that possesses novelty, distinctness, uniformity, stability, and an adequately designated denomination.
Article 3 The protection of new plant varieties shall uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, implement the strategic arrangements of the Party and the State concerning intellectual property, promote innovation in breeding, and advance the high-quality development of the seed industry.
Article 4 The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall, according to their respective duties, be responsible for the protection of new plant varieties nationwide, and shall accept and examine applications for rights in new plant varieties and grant rights in new plant varieties (hereinafter referred to as the "variety rights") to those new plant varieties that comply with the provisions of the Regulations; they shall improve the testing system for new plant varieties, enhance the management of the preservation of propagating materials, strengthen publicity and training on the protection of new plant varieties, and conduct the relevant technological research.
The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland of the people's governments at the county level or above shall, according to their respective duties, be responsible for the protection of new plant varieties within their respective administrative regions.
Article 5 Entities and individuals that have made outstanding contributions in the breeding, dissemination, and application of new plant varieties shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with the relevant national regulations.
Article 6 The production, operation, and dissemination of a new plant variety in respect of which variety rights have been granted (hereinafter referred to as the "protected variety") shall comply with the provisions of the relevant laws and regulations on seed management.
Chapter II Content and Ownership of Variety Rights
Article 7 A holder of variety rights (hereinafter referred to as the "variety rights holder") shall have an exclusive right in respect of a protected variety. Unless otherwise provided by the laws or the Regulations, no entity or individual may, without the permission of the variety rights holder, commit any of the following acts by using the propagating material of the protected variety:
(1) Production, propagation, and acts carried out for the purpose of propagation;
(2) Offering for sale or sale;
(3) Import or export; and
(4) Storage for the purpose of conducting the acts referred to in Items (1) through (3) of this Paragraph.
Where the acts prescribed in the preceding paragraph involve harvested material that is obtained from the unauthorized use of the propagating material of the protected variety, permission from the variety rights holder shall be obtained; however, this provision shall not apply if the variety rights holder has already had a reasonable opportunity to exercise their rights in respect of the propagating material.
The following acts in respect of the varieties listed below shall require the permission of the variety rights holder of the protected variety:
(1) Essentially derived varieties of the protected variety, provided that the protected variety itself is not an essentially derived variety;
(2) Varieties that are not clearly distinguishable from the protected variety as specified in Article 16 of the Regulations; and
(3) Other varieties that are produced or propagated using the protected variety repeatedly for commercial purposes.
Article 8 The State shall implement the essentially derived variety system in stages. The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall determine the specific scope of implementation in the form of a catalog, which shall be submitted to the State Council for approval before its promulgation.
Essentially derived varieties shall be determined primarily on the basis of molecular detection and phenotypic testing results, with due consideration, where necessary, of factors such as breeding methods, breeding processes, and genetic relationships. The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall formulate guidelines for the determination of essentially derived varieties, specifying the scope of application, methods of detection and testing, decision thresholds, technical procedures, and the requirements to be met by detection and testing institutions.
The competent authorities of agriculture and rural affairs and forestry and grassland under the State Council shall establish an expert database composed of specialists in breeding, detection, testing, administration, and law, to provide professional support for the implementation of the essentially derived variety system.
Article 9 In the case of job-related breeding accomplished through performing tasks for the entity or primarily by using the material and technical conditions of the entity, the right to file an application for variety rights shall belong to that entity; for breeding that is not job-related, the right to file such an application shall belong to the person accomplishing the breeding. Where breeding is accomplished by using the material and technical conditions of the entity, and the entity and the individual accomplishing the breeding have agreed by contract on the ownership of the right to file an application for variety rights, such agreement shall prevail.
In the case of commissioned breeding or cooperative breeding, the parties may agree by contract on the ownership of the right to file an application for variety rights; failing such an agreement, the right to file an application for variety rights shall belong to the entity or individual commissioned to conduct or jointly conduct the breeding.
Upon approval of the application, the variety rights shall belong to the applicant.
Article 10 One new plant variety shall be granted only one set of variety rights.
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