A genome sequence of Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) has been revealed, announced in a press conference in Beijing on March 4, 2011, co-hosted by Tonghua Municipal Government of Jilin Province, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Jilin Zixin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Mr. WANG Rulin, governor of Jilin Province, Prof. LI Jiayang, vice president of CAS, and other people attended the press conference.

The ginseng genome sequencing is undertaken by Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG), CAS. Starting from late 2010, researchers have successfully completed the genome sequencing in several months and obtained a high-quality ginseng sequence map with over 100 time coverage, using the second-generation sequencing technology and novel research methods.

“The completion of ginseng genome sequencing laid a cornerstone for the ginseng program, and provides the basic biological information of ginseng that will help for the research of its gene diversity, variation and relations”, said Prof. YU Jun, vice director of BIG, as a main speaker in the press conference. Further genomic analysis is already under way.

“This successful work is the joint effort of all parties of the program, which establishes a good model for the cooperation between scientific institutions and local companies”, said Mr. ZHANG Anshun, chief leader of Tonghua City. All parties of the program agreed that more supports will be given to accelerate the transformation and application of scientific achievements in order to promote the ginseng industry in China.

Dubbed “King of Herbs”, Chinese ginseng has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine and health care product in China for more than 4,000 years. Jilin Province accounts for approximately 80% of China’s total ginseng output, and Tonghua alone accounts for more than 24%, as reported. It is expected that the ginseng industry of Jilin Province will reach an output value of 20 billion RMB in 2012 and 100 billion RMB in 2020.