China's first pig cloned from a body cell. China announced Monday that the cloned pig, weighing 1.13 kilograms, was born in Henan Province on Friday after more than one year of research. It was the first cloned pig independently developed by Chinese scientists.  (Source: Xinhua)

    BEIJING, Aug. 9 -- Chinese scientists have successfully produced the country's first cloned pig, state media said, hailing it as a major scientific breakthrough.

    The Chinese Agriculture University announced that the healthy 1.1 kilogramme (2.4 pounds) piglet was born in the central province of Hebei on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

    "This cloned piglet's birth shows that out country's research in this field has reached a world standard," the report said.

    It said China was the seventh country to have successfully cloned pigs, after Britain, Japan, the United States, Australia, South Korea and Germany.

    The cloned piglet was one of three born to a female pig, but the other two died soon after birth.

    The report quoted scientists as saying that cloned pigs would be useful for organ transplants and scientific research, as well as for improving pig species.

    China has previously cloned cows, with its first cloned cow giving birth to an artificially inseminated calf last December.

(Source: Xinhua/AFP)