BEIJING -- China had approximately 539,000 crop germplasm resource samples in long-term preservation facilities by the end of 2022, according to a report from the top legislature on Tuesday.

The value of China's crop seed market exceeded 130 billion yuan (18.2 billion US dollars) for the first time in 2022, and the total assets of enterprises in the sector climbed to some 306.9 billion yuan, a team dispatched by the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress to inspect the implementation of the Seed Law said in the report, which has been submitted to lawmakers for deliberation.

Crop germplasm resources play an important role in both food security and agricultural sci-tech innovation.

To implement the Seed Law in an improved manner, the report suggested that more efforts should be made to strengthen the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, step up research on the breeding of outstanding seed varieties, foster large seed companies with competitiveness, beef up intellectual property protection, intensify supervision over seed quality, and implement support measures for the seed industry.