A national gene bank built by China's gene research giant BGI started trial operation on Saturday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Wang Jian, chairman of the Shenzhen-headquartered company, said the gene bank has a collection of 10 million samples of biological resources.

The project is expected to boost research and business in fields of health, agriculture, species diversity and environmental protection.

Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2011, the facility is dedicated to storing and managing the country's unique genetic resources and data, as well as biological information.

Wang said the company also plans to set up a national laboratory on genomics.

In addition, BGI announced on Sunday that it, along with several institutional investors, launched a startup incubator on application of gene technology. The company promised to open its technology platform and data to members of the incubator.

(Source: Xinhua)