LIMBURGERHOF, Germany (Thomson Financial) - BASF AG said it entered into a research cooperation with China's National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS) to develop genetically modified versions of staple crops such as corn, soybeans and rice with increased yields.

Under the agreement, BASF gets the exclusive development and marketing rights outside of China for crops based on a family of genes that was discovered by NIBS, BASF and NIBS said in a joint statement.

NIBS retains the right to market the crops in China, they added.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

'Asia is emerging as a key player in plant biotechnology ... and we are striving to intensify partnerships in this dynamic region,' Hans Kast, the head of BASF Plant Science unit, said in the statement. 'Europe, on the contrary, is losing its competitiveness due to slow and contradictory political decisions.'

In October, BASF Plant Science had announced a biotech cooperation agreement with the South Korean Crop Functional Genomics Center, CFGC.