Recently, the Kew Millennium Seed Bank sent 353 packages of seeds to Kunming. They will be stored in a cold storage facility that maintains a temperature of negative 20 degrees Celsius. When the plants are on the verge of extinction in nature, these seeds will be taken out to be grown into seedlings. So far, more than 40 countries have deposited nearly 1,200 packages of reserveseeds in Kunming.

The Germplasm Bank of Wild Species in China’s Southwest, referred to as the ‘Ark of Seeds’, passed a national acceptance review in November 2009. It is the world’s second largest germplasm bank for wildlife following the Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank in the UK.

Currently, 9,484 kinds of plant seeds accounting for 32 percent of China’s flowering plants are stored in the germplasm bank’s cold storage in 71,232 packages. In addition, 45 kinds of seeds from abroad are also stored in the germplasm bank.