South China Agricultural University in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned CITIC Group Corp., will open in Brazil next Tuesday a facility for breeding soybean plants, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes an official of the university, Sherry Yuan Juhua, as saying the Yuan Longping subsidiary in the southern Brazilian state of São Paulo will house the facility.

Ms Yuan said tests of over 100 breeds by researchers at her university had shown promising results.

The report says the Yuan Longping subsidiary will be the first Brazilian company in the South China Agricultural University Sino-Latin American Alliance for Agricultural Innovation, Investigation and Education.

In 2017 CITIC Group bought the Brazilian maize seed production business of DowDuPont Inc. of the United States for US$1.1 billion, Lusa says.