Zhang Jinlong is a independent researcher with more than 20 years of experience in China’s agrochemical industry and over 15 years working with registration and sales for the Brazilian market. He specializes in product development, registration and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) management.
On September 16th, Pesticide Science and Administration No. 8 (2026) reported that China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) had approved 2,406 new pesticide product registrations, 1,118 amendments and 2,896 renewals in the first half of 2026, including 11 new active ingredients. The journal is published by the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals (ICAMA), which sits under MARA.
The pipeline in numbers
Herbicides accounted for 29.4% of the new registrations, insecticides 28.7% and fungicides 24.6%, with the remaining 17.3% spread across other categories. Of the products approved, 135 were technical or mother-grade materials and 2,271 were formulations. Mixtures outnumbered single-ingredient products by 1,445 to 826, while 148 registrations were granted for export only. Chlorantraniliprole accounted for the largest number of new product registrations of any active.
Eleven of the approvals were entirely new active ingredients. Four are synthetic: isoxafenacil, a PPO-inhibiting non-selective herbicide developed by Jiangshan; flubeneteram, a novel SDHI fungicide; fluchloraminopyr-tefuryl, a synthetic-auxin non-selective herbicide from KingAgroot; and bisulflufen, an acaricide industrialised by Yangnong. The other seven are biological or RNA-based products. Two of the 11 have already moved from registration into revenue and are seeking partners abroad.
Figure 1. Registration decisions by type in the first half of 2026 and two Chinese-invented active ingredients that have reached the market.
Flubeneteram: launched by Zhongxun
On September 12th, Guangdong Zhongxun Agroscience held an online global launch for Xunzhixing®, a 30% suspension concentrate of flubeneteram. The compound was first synthesised and patented at Central China Normal University in 2013 by Yang Guangfu’s group.
Zhongxun bought the compound, 71 associated patents and the technical and formulation registrations. Its route to market — buy the molecule, own the intellectual property and control the brand — represents an alternative to the toll-manufacturing model that has defined Chinese agrochemicals for two decades.
Cyproflanilide: Chinese-developed insecticide expands abroad
CAC (Nantong) sells cyproflanilide under the Lingqiao® brand. The compound is admitted to IRAC MoA Group 30, the GABA-gated chloride channel allosteric modulators, and is the first Chinese-invented insecticide to enter the IRAC classification in roughly 20 years.
In the first half of 2026, cyproflanilide generated sales of RMB 283 million (approximately US$ 40 million), or about 9.5% of the company’s revenue. The product is registered and selling in China, Paraguay and Cambodia. Under a November 2024 agreement, UPL Corp holds commercialisation rights for more than 40 countries.
Brazil and Latin America
The international expansion of these molecules is particularly relevant for Latin America. Cyproflanilide is already registered and selling in Paraguay, while Brazil is one of the world’s largest markets for control of lepidopteran pests. The top 20 lepidopteran control markets are worth roughly US$ 6.3 billion, including US$ 1.72 billion in China, US$ 1.02 billion in Brazil and US$ 682 million in India.
For Chinese companies developing proprietary molecules, the main constraint on international expansion is not manufacturing capacity but registration, which is measured in years in major agricultural markets. For companies in Latin America looking for differentiated chemistry rather than another generic source, this creates opportunities through co-registration, joint development and distribution. Cyproflanilide has already moved through a partnership model, while flubeneteram is at an earlier stage.