A State-level maize engineering and technology research center was inaugurated Thursday in the city of Laizhou in east China's Shandong Province.

The center is attached to the city's agricultural academy established by Li Denghai, a well-known expert on maize cultivation in China.

The center will be involved in research and development of high- yield maize strains and special biological fertilizers and pesticides for maize, and spreading the use of new technological results, officials said.

The improved maize strains developed by the Laizhou Agricultural Academy have been used in 14.9 million hectares of farmland over the past three years, accounting for 43.5 percent of the country's total.