December 4, 2007

DuPont teams with Beijing Weiming Kaituo

DuPont and Beijing Weiming Kaituo (BWK) has formed a joint venture to accelerate the discovery of genes in resilient crops and improve crop production.

DuPont said the venture would seek to find genetic traits such as tolerance to stress and efficient use of nutrients to produce healthier crops through its Pioneer Hi-Bred seed brand.

Beijing Weiming Kaituo is partially owned by Peking University and an affiliated biotechnology company.

Dr. James H. Zhou, former chief executive of BWK, will manage the joint venture while Dr. Guihua Lu of DuPont Crop Genetics will be the deputy general manager and technology manager.

DuPont manufactures and sells materials, synthetic fibers, agriculture and biotechnology products. Shares of the company were up 2.1 percent at US$47.10.

The company has two other joint ventures to sell Pioneer corn seeds in China.