Impacts of China food trade on global resource and environment: A sustainable development assessment

Meeting China’s burgeoning food demand while safeguarding the resources and environmental long-term development is a critical challenge for the sustainable food systems of this century. China’s accelerated food imports have far-reaching implications for global resource allocation and environmental development. Hence, detailed information regarding China’s food trade resource-environmental impacts is imperative for the design of effective policies that promote environmental mitigation and resource conservation. This study estimated the spatial transfers of virtual water trade (VWT), virtual land trade (VLT), and virtual GHG emission trade (VGT) embodied in China’s food trade. Findings indicate that the VWT, VLT, and VGT transfers embodied in China’s food trade increased by 10.4 %, 9.8 %, and 15.2 % annually. It is more important to mention that virtual water import (VWI) and virtual land import (VLI) saved 119.5 × 10⁹m³ of global water resources and 29.5 Mha of land resources, respectively, but virtual GHG emission import (VGI) increased global 13 Mt CO₂-eq GHG emissions. The divergent impacts of China’s food import on global food sustainability stem from variations in virtual water content, yields and emission intensities. Moreover, significant differences in sustainability scores were found among the top 15 importing countries, indicating that China’s food trade contributes to the deepening of global food system sustainability. This study highlights the need for a multifaceted approach that considers the various environmental impacts of food trade. China is therefore encouraged to fully integrate the benefits of resource and environmental conservation into its sustainable food trade strategy, restructuring the food system to ensure the long-term nourishment of its large population.