Foreign trade and virtual land resources: A case study of China's grain

Abstract

This paper selects four grain crops of rice, wheat, soybean, and corn, analyzes their foreign trade from 2002 to 2020, and estimates the virtual land resource. The research results show that China's grain has always been in the state of net import. China mainly exports rice and imports soybeans, and the market structure has an obvious trend of simplification. The net import of virtual land resources in China's grain has grown significantly and has outstanding contribution ability. The average annual net import is 62.25 million ha, which is almost equivalent to the arable land area of China's one-cropping area. The net import contribution of soybean virtual land resources is about 101 times of its sown area, while corn, rice, and wheat account for about 10.42, 11.69, and 74.66% of its sown area. The net importers of virtual land resources are relatively concentrated, mainly in Brazil, the US, Argentina, Ukraine, and Canada.