China’s second-generation gene sequencing technology has achieved breakthroughs and now leads the world, the National Development and Reform Commission said through its official WeChat account on Oct. 9.

In recent five years, highly accurate and affordable gene testing has been embraced by more people in China, and its market could reach 6 billion yuan (around $911 million) in 2016, which is more than five times than that in 2012, topping the world with its annual compound growth rate of 50 percent.

Chinese companies and research institutions have broken the monopoly on sequencing devices and reagent manufacturing by independently developing BIGIS, the first second-generation sequencers in China. Some types of domestic sequencers have been approved by the China Food and Drug Administration to enter the market.

Moreover, BGI, a domestic frontier institution of life science and a leader of gene sequencing in China, has developed DNA-based single-cell sequence technology, indicating that China has started research on third-generation sequencing technology.

China’s fast development of gene science has been one of the main achievements in the hi-tech field since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Now the gene industry has been a driving force for China’s economic growth and attracting a high amount of attention from the capital markets.