Rachel Hou/Shanghai Daily news

A panel of experts are meeting in closed-session today to assess the potential risks associated with the mass production of genetically modified (GM) rice. The assessment will greatly influence the government's decision on whether to allow GM rice to be planted commercially, today's China Business News reported.
Held by the State committee on the bio-safety of GM organisms, the session will last for three days. A conference last year, which was held by the agricultural authorities for the same purpose, ended with no GM rice being awarded a safety certificate.
Four strains of GM rice, three being pest-resistant and one bacteria-immune, were submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture for licensing this year.
So far, no country has commenced the commercialization of GM rice. Only four GM crops are widely-planted in the world, namely soybean, cotton, maize and oilseed rape, none of which form part of the staple diets of human beings.   
Since China is the world's biggest rice producer and consumer, any government decision on this matter will create a great deal of interest.
Controversy has already arisen over the safety of a strain of GM rice put forward for a license. According to the environmental organization Greenpeace, the strain contains an insect-resistant gene called Cowpea trypsin inhibitor (CpTI) whose structure is similar to a gene believed to cause lung-damage in mice.