In March, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China staged the largest national survey on germplasm resources since the founding of PRC. A perennial semi-wild land cotton was found on Yongxing Island in Sansha City, which experts temporarily named as "Yongxing cotton NO. 168964." “Based on our preliminary research, the cotton cultivar might originate from the Age of Discovery hundreds of years ago. Its genome and chromosome composition are quite different from the American endemic species and modern cultivars. This is a big discovery for us to study the domestication history of land cotton and expansion of genetic diversity,” said Qian Qian, the director of the Institute of Crop Sciences of CAAS. Up to now, the survey has been conducted in a total of 2,323 counties across China. Barring the newly discovered Yongxing cotton, experts also found that the Chinese horseshoe crab, which is mainly distributed in the southeast coastal areas of China, such as Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, has over 50 kinds of biologically active substances in the blood. Its unique nervous system can be regarded as a model for bionomics research. The creature has been classified as a Level-2 protected animal in China. Li Shumin, the level-1 inspector of Bureau of Fisheries of MARA, said that at present, the Guangxi Institute of Fisheries and other units have succeeded in research on artificial breeding of horseshoe crabs, laying a good foundation for artificial stocking, restoration of populations and then fully artificial breeding.