German plant breeder and seed firm Benary expands into China

Ruiqi Zhan, CEO of Ican Seed (very left); Matthias Redlefsen, CEO of Benary (3rd from left), Jan Kühn von Burgsdorf, Deputy General-Consul of the German General-Consulate Canton (3rd from right) together with representatives of the Chinese Flower Association and the Xiamen Government.

XIAMEN, China: Construction of a new, China-based breeding technology centre for German plant breeder and seed firm Benary began in May 2021 with a ceremony in Xiamen during which the name of what will become China’s first fully integrated floriculture industry centre was revealed. Welcome to Tangchao Horticulture Centre which translates in chinese as tang for begonia and chao as new trends.

The new company is a joint venture of Ican Horticulture Co., Ltd. and Ernst Benary GmbH, Germany.

Aerial view of the Tangchao construction site.

Tangchao Horticulture will build and operate China’s first integrated floriculture industry center, including a production facility for young plants and finished plants with a capacity of over 250 mio units.

Further, the joint venture will include a state-of-the-art breeding technology centre that will be led by Benary and focus especially on the development of flower varieties for the hot and humid climate.

Tangchao Horticulture will cover a total area of 16 hectares of which 7.5ha of greenhouse space.

Parts of it will be dedicated to a begonia competence center, a “Global Begonia Show”, and an European novelties trial ground.

According to Matthias Redlefsen, CEO of Benary, the new breeding technology centre in Xiamen plays an integratal role in the company’s global product development. Xiamen’s suitable climate and its good business environment gives the German family business the confidence to continuously invest in this venture. Furthermore, Tangchao Horticulture will act as an industry bridge to the West and support companies from European horticulture to expand their business activities into Southeast China.