Reflections on China's food security and land use policy under rapid urbanization

Food security concerns the economy, people's livelihood and social stability of a country or region. Countries around the world always put food security on their high-priority political agenda. As the most populous developing country in the world, China produces one-fourth of the world’s food and feeds one-fifth of the population. Therefore, China’s food security has attracted global attention. However, systematic research on China's food security is still insufficient. This study systematically reviewed the key issues facing China’s food (supply) security, identified the potential factors affecting the county’s grain production, and put forward countermeasures to further ensure food security. Results show that over the past four decades, China's rural population decreased significantly, and cultivated land area decreased in the south and increased in the north, and grain output risen in volatility. China's food security is latent with regional, structural and technical crises, and further ensuring China's food security is faced with many challenges. Potential factors affecting China’s food security include the rapid farmland conversion, the aging and weakening of farmers, the spatial mismatch of water-land resources and grain production, the periodicity and instability of climate change, and the unbalanced spatial coupling of population, land and grain (PLG) system. Differentiated and oriented response measures to resolve regional and structural issues should be adopted to further ensure China's food security.