Agricultural trade and virtual land use: The case of China's crop trade

Trade liberalization has greatly accelerated the volume of traded agricultural products in past decades. As land resources become more limited in some countries, international trade plays an important role in compensating for land scarcity in these countries. This paper aims to measure and locate the virtual land use hidden in China's imports and exports, for both primary crops and processed products, from 1986 to 2009. The results show that as China's crop imports had grown greatly during the last decade, the net virtual land trade hidden in international trade had increased from −4.42 Mha in 1986 to 28.90 Mha in 2009. The main category of virtual land imports had changed from cereals to oil crops, which accounted for 82.2% of the total virtual land imports in 2009. Over the two decades the main source of virtual land imports had changed from North America to both South America and North America. International trade could also lower demand for land resources at the global level: our results showed that China's crop trade was contributing to global land savings by 3.27 Mha on annual average during 1986–2009. Economic development, and associated dietary changes and policy shifts were linked to the change of China's virtual land trade pattern. To make land use more sustainable at the global level, both importing and exporting countries of virtual land should consider ecological and socio-economic impacts of these trade flows in their policies.

► China's virtual land use hidden in international trade has increased greatly from 1986 to 2009. ► China's main category of virtual land imports has changed from cereals to oil crops. ► The origin of China's virtual land use changed from North America to both North America and South America. ► The shift of China's crop trade has led to a land saving at the global scale. ► Detailed account of these changes and discusses in the light of global land use patterns and domestic policies are given.