BEIJING: The world's biggest animal "cloning factory" is due to open in China, producing one million calves a year, sniffer dogs and even genetic copies of the family pet.
The $US32 million ($44 million) "commercial" facility will edge the controversial science "closer to mainstream acceptance", Chinese media said, following the development of a technique which began when Dolly the sheep became the first cloned mammal when she was born in Scotland in 1996.
The centre may cause alarm in Europe, where the cloning of animals for farming was banned in September due to animal welfare considerations.
But Xu Xiaochun, chairman of Chinese biotechnology company BoyaLife that is backing the facility, dismissed such concerns.
"Let me ask one question. Was this ban based on scientific rationale or ethical rationale or political agenda?" Mr Xu said.
"Legislation is always behind science. But in the area of cloning, I think we are going the wrong way and starting to kill the technology."
Interest in agricultural biotechnology has been increased in China, where farmers are struggling to provide enough beef for the country's growing middle classes. Prices of the meat are said to have tripled between 2000 and 2013.
Mr Xu said his facility will clone racehorses and a handful of dogs for people with "emotional ties" to their pets, but its main focus was producing cattle.
The factory, which will include a 15,000 square metre laboratory, an animal centre, a gene bank and an exhibition hall, is being built in Tianjin, and is due to open next year.
BoyaLife will operate the facility with its South Korean partner, Sooam Biotech, that runs a centre that can clone dogs for customers willing to pay $US100,000, and has already produced more than 550 puppies.
The European Parliament's environment committee co-rapporteur, Renate Sommer, criticised the technique of cloning as members voted on the ban in September.
"Many of the animals which are born alive die in the first few weeks, and they die painfully. Should we allow that?"