Origin Agritech Expands GMO Trait Portfolio

BEIJING,July 12,2021 -- Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SEED) (the "Company" or "Origin"),an agriculture technology company,announced today that it has entered into an exclusive rights agreement with Biology Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for its drought resistant GMO trait (Chinese patent number: ZL02127187.9,US Patent Number: US7323339B2).

The licensing agreement gives Origin exclusive global rights to the GMO trait for the full term of the patent. The drought-tolerant corn has been approved for production trials from China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (the fourth stage in the five stage process to receive its bio-safety certificate). Furthermore,Origin has already successfully converted its elite corn hybrids into drought resistant traits.

The trait has expressed excellent performance under water stress conditions through the whole growing period. Multi year experiments have shown the yield of drought tolerance corn is 9.2-16.2% higher than non-GMO corn under water stress conditions. Under irrigated conditions,the GMO enhanced corn increases water use efficiency by 33-47%.

Dr. Gengchen Han,Origin Agritech's Chairman,said,"We are very excited to expand our GMO trait portfolio. We believe that drought resistance will be a major area of focus as the effects of climate change come to the forefront of the world's attention."

About Origin Agritech Limited

Origin Agritech Limited,founded in 1997 and headquartered in Zhong-Guan-Cun (ZGC) Life Science Park in Beijing,is a leading Chinese agricultural technology company. In crop seed biotechnologies,Origin Agritech's phytase corn was the first transgenic corn to receive the Bio-Safety Certificate from China's Ministry of Agriculture. Over the years,Origin has established a robust biotechnology seed pipeline including products with glyphosate tolerance and pest resistance (Bt) traits. For further information,please visit the Company's website at: http://www.originseed.com.cn orhttp://www.originseed.com.cn/en/. The company also maintains a twitter account for updating investors on company and industry developments,which is @origin_agritech.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the federal securities laws,including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,as amended,and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition,and contain words like "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "will," "would," "target," and similar expressions and variations. Forward-looking statements address matters that are uncertain. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on assumptions and expectations which may not be realized. They are based on management's current expectations,assumptions,estimates and projections about the Company and the industry in which the Company operates but involve a number of risks and uncertainties,many of which are beyond the company's control. Some of the important factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those discussed in forward-looking statements are: failure to develop and market new products and optimally manage product life cycles; ability to respond to market acceptance,rules,regulations and policies affecting our products; failure to appropriately manage process safety and product stewardship issues; changes in laws and regulations or political conditions; global economic and capital markets conditions,such as inflation,interest and currency exchange rates; business or supply disruptions; natural disasters and weather events and patterns; ability to protect and enforce the company's intellectual property rights; and separation of underperforming or non-strategic assets or businesses. The company undertakes no duty or obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statements as a result of future developments,or new information or otherwise,should circumstances change,except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable,it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct,and actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results. You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements,which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

Contact:

Joe Ramelli

Phone: (310) 845-6238

Email: joeramelli@originseed.com.cn

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