China has approved its first shipment of genetically ­modified (GM) Argentine corn, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing ­Argentine Agriculture Minister Norberto Yauhar.

Chinese health authorities cleared 60,000 tons of GM ­Argentine corn. The cargo was already headed inland to be used as hog and chicken feed, said the minister.

"The authorities in China have finally let us in, opening a potentially enormous market for our corn," Yauhar said in a statement that named trading company Bunge as the exporter of the cargo, according to the report.

Repeated calls from the Global Times to the Argentine embassy in Beijing went ­unanswered Wednesday.

The market knew since May that Argentine corn was headed to China. But questions lingered over whether it would be approved for entry by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the country's top quality watchdog.

"The cargo has now been approved by the AQSIQ and the vessel has been discharged in China. The corn is officially imported and on its way to end customers," said the report, citing an unnamed source at a major trading company in ­Buenos Aires.

And three Buenos Aires-­based grains trading sources were quoted as saying the ­Argentine corn was imported by China's State-owned trading house COFCO and left ­Argentina about a month ago.

AQSIQ has not answered faxed questions from the Global Times seeking confirmation of the report and several calls to a marketing official of COFCO went unanswered Wednesday.

This import, if confirmed, is likely to influence the ­domestic selling price of corn, as the country's current corn ­inventory of around 80 million tons is sufficient for domestic demand, Ma Wenfeng, an analyst with Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Co, told the Global Times Wednesday, predicting domestic production of the produce will increase to 216 million tons this year from 2012's 208 million tons.

Import volumes of corn are increasing steadily these days, given that the import price for corn is usually some 300 yuan ($49.02) per ton lower than the domestic selling price, according to Ma.

In addition, concerns over the safety of GM farm ­produce may also dampen ­market sentiment. Most ­imported corn is genetically modified, Ma said, urging products using GM corn to include the information on their packaging to alert consumers.

Chen Yitian, an expert on GM food and natural disasters at the Risk Analysis Council of the China Association for Disaster Prevention, told the Global Times Wednesday that the GM corn could be harmful to people's health, but it is hard to say how harmful as the specific type of corn was not ­revealed.