China has imported 230 kg of Brazilian maize for its global transfer base for the introduction of animal and plant germplasm resources , the first seed from a foreign source to be added to the seed bank, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency says the shipment of maize is now in quarantine in the southern Chinese city of Sanya, in the island province of Hainan.

The report says the maize will then be planted for four months so it can be studied.

Sanya is setting up in the Hainan Pilot Free Trade Zone a bank of plant and animal seed for suitable for propagation and breeding , the report says.

The seed will be used for identification, evaluation, preservation, breeding, research and development, innovation, industrial application as well as trade purposes, Xinhua says.