Back in 1920s, Professor Shou Wang at the Jinling University (later became Nanjing Agricultural University) started the first scientific Soyabean breading research plan in China, Later, Professor Shanbao Jin, Professor Yuhua Ma and Professor Jinling Wang continued to study soybean breeding. In 1950s, Professor Yuhua Ma at Nanjing Agricultural College started to study the quantitative genetics and breeding of local soybean varieties in Jianghuai valley areas. In 1981, the Research Laboratory of Soyabean Genetics and Breeding at Nanjing Agricultural College was founded by the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1984, the project on the collection and preservation of Southern China soybean varieties was funded by IPBRI, which was extended to the research on national and international soybean germplasm . The Laboratory was expanded to be the Soyabean Research Institute of NAU in 1985. The Institute became the National Center for Soybean Improvement in 1998, which was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Key Laboratory of Soyabean Biological and Genetic Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture in 2011. The team was selected as Innovative Research Team by Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

The National Center for Soybean Improvement (NCSI) was based on the Soybean Research Institute and some other laboratories of Nanjing Agricultural University. The main responsibilities of NCSI set by the Ministry of Agriculture are to coordinate the research work of the sub-centers; to organize the collection, introduction, characterization and exchange of breeding materials; to study and explore theories and methodologies for soybean breeding; to work on germplasm enhancement and cultivar development for serving the soybean breeders with created new materials and cultivars; and to develop international cooperation and exchange with world key laboratories and institutions on behalf of the country. For field experiments, there established the experiment station located in Jiangpu County.

The NCSI is composed of the following four laboratories:

1.Laboratory of Genetic Resources,

2.Laboratory of Genetic Improvement of Yield and Quality,

3.Laboratory of Resistance and Tolerance to Biotic and Abiotic Factors,

4.Laboratory of Biotechnology and Breeding Theory and Methodology.

Team Leader: Prof. Junyi Gai