The upcoming Shenzhou-23 spaceflight mission will experiment cultivating two consecutive generations of rice in orbit, according to the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China is sending rice seeds along with astronauts to its space station Tiangong via the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, scheduled to be launched on Sunday.
The new rice experiment, if successful, will mark the first complete growth cycle from seed to new seed grown in space, then to a second generation of space seeds, opening possibilities for in-situ food production on future lunar base and deep-space missions.
In 2022, six rice seeds spent 120 days aboard Tiangong, flowering and producing 59 offspring grains. The upcoming mission upgrades that effort by adding a second new generation.
In microgravity, plants lose their sense of direction and rice seedlings tend to grow erratically. Scientists have developed a method of using directional lighting to guide upright growth. Rice's self-pollination also helps overcome the challenge of pollen failing to settle naturally in microgravity.
However, rice cultivation in space still faces a series of challenges, like disrupted flowering times, slower development cycles, and reduced seed vigor.
The experiment will compare two cultivation methods to explore answers to these challenges and find the best fit for the space station's confined environment - the conventional sexual reproduction through flowering and seed propagation, and the asexual reproduction which involves ratoon rice that regrows from retained roots after harvest.
Another batch of rice seeds will undergo five months of exposure to space radiation and varying gravity levels in external and internal experiment boxes, potentially generating mutations that could yield valuable germplasm resources for breeding new varieties.
Shenzhou-23 to grow second-generation space-faring rice seeds
The 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting concluded in east China's Suzhou on Saturday, yielding fruitful results and laying significant groundwork for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.
The trade ministers' meeting focused on "building an open and predictable regional and multilateral economic and trade order" and "fostering new engines of innovative and dynamic trade and investment cooperation."
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao briefed the media on the meeting's outcomes at a press conference.
Wang said the meeting issued a joint statement titled the Suzhou Statement, and approved the latest edition of the APEC Roadmap for Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Services.
All parties agreed to advance policy innovation and reform in services trade, build an open and predictable investment environment, improve regional trade facilitation and supply chain resilience, strengthen standards coordination, and enhance intellectual property protection, Wang told the media.
He also said that substantial progress was made on a framework document for regional digital trade cooperation and the ministers emphasized promoting inclusive AI development, strengthening AI-related trade, and bridging the digital divide to ensure shared benefits from digital transformation.
The minister noted that the outcomes of the meeting demonstrated strong cooperation willingness, highlighted an innovation-oriented approach, and reflected inclusiveness and shared benefits. "The fact that Asia-Pacific economies can come together, uphold the original aspiration of promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation while supporting economic growth and prosperity, and engage in in-depth discussions on the important issue of 'where multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation is headed,' fully demonstrates that open regionalism and true multilateralism enjoy broad support, and that mutual success and shared development serve the fundamental interests of all economies," Wang said.
2026 APEC trade ministers' meeting concludes with fruitful results
