The Chinese government introduced a regulation as early as 2001 to ensure the safety of GM food, with strict provisions for researching, testing, producing and marketing such products.

According to the regulation, parties conducting GM agricultural experiments should have certain qualifications and form a panel to be in charge of the safety of the experiments.

It also provides that any China-foreign GM agricultural experiment should be approved by the government's agricultural departments.

An official with the Hunan provincial government's agricultural bureau in charge of GM-related issues said the office did not receive any application for a GM food experiment and did not give any approval.

"Only after we know about the truth of this experiment can we talk food safety," Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post wrote in a commentary. "The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture need to disclose the truth."