Yanqing county in the northern suburb of Beijing is an ideal area to grow high-quality potatoes. The climate is perfect and the soil should produce bumper yields of the vegetable.

Already the county has cultivated more than 10 varieties of potatoes at the seed stage.

It is also the home of the newly established China branch of the International Potato Center, a global scientific research organization that seeks to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries.

The center will be China's first international agricultural research institution and will serve the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

"We envision a whole new set of collaborations and partnerships that will demonstrate our ability to continue to accomplish great things together," Barbara Wells, director of the International Potato Center, said.

"This will benefit not only the Chinese people but also the entire region.

"The timing for establishing this world class R&D facility in Yanqing could not be better, and we look forward to this new regional organization growing and bearing fruit," she added.

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Beijing Xisen Sanhe Potato Co, one of the country's largest seed merchants, have also set up shop in Yanqing, where they have been working on new strains of potatoes.

The research and development at their facilities, and the new International Potato Center should help increase production not only in the area but in the rest of the country.

Plans are also underway to open a high-tech scientific park for potato research in Yanqing. The project will be a joint venture with neighboring Zhangjiakou in Hebei province.

"Yanqing has pursued research and development in the sector, while Zhangjiakou uses high-tech equipment and techniques to plant and harvest potatoes," Li Zhijun, Party chief of Yanqing, said.

Hou Liang, Party chief of Zhangjiakou, is just as bullish about the plan to set up a scientific park.

"Zhangjiakou is a major production area of premium potatoes with its extensive farmlands, and it provides more than 1 million tons of potatoes to the nation," Hou said.

"It has a comprehensive potato industry, which will help in the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province in modern agriculture, and improve the region's overall competitiveness."