Analysis of China's Food Security Problem from the Perspective of Virtual Arable Land

摘要

Importing virtual arable land is a new choice to solve China's shortage of arable land per capita and food security problem. According to the analysis of import/export of virtual arable land in grain trade, from 2000 to 2009, China's net imports of virtual arable land added up to 1279600 km2; in 2009, our net imports of virtual arable land reached 259600 km2, which amounted to 21.33% of the total arable land, and 23.82% of area sown with grain. The import number is supposed to be 7674800 km2 in 2030. Importing virtual arable land is propitious to optimize the location of land resources, and improve land use efficiency and production efficiency. However, increasing greatly net import of virtual arable land will boost our dependence on foreign grain, and reduce the food safety factor. It is suggested that the government should implement the virtual arable land trade strategy at the national policy level, and meanwhile strengthen research in saving land technique, to provide scientific basis for implementing the virtual arable land strategy.