China’s journey to becoming an agricultural power: a historical examination and pathway breakthrough

Drawing on a systematic review of the concepts and evaluation criteria for agricultural powemhousesworldwide, this paper analyzes how agricultural power emerges, its core features, and its future development trajectory.It then examines China's historical status and prospects within the global context of agricutural powers in light of thenation’s current circumstances. The research finds that widely recognized agricultural powers such as the United Statesand the Netherlands typically possess advanced socio-economic backgrounds, agricultural labor productivity levelscomparable to those in other sectors, and influential agricultural products in giobal markets. To clarify the underlyingmechanism by which agricultural powerhouses take shape, this paper introduces a “starting point-process” analyticalframe work, illuminating the role of initial endowments and evolutionary processes in molding an agricultural powerhouse.Given the coexistence of numerous smallholder subsistence farms and specialized, large-scale agricultural operations inChina, this study argues that facilitating the accelerated exit of traditional small-scale farming and achieving scaled, technology-driven operations are critical steps toward establishing China as an agricultural powerhouse. At the sametime, strengthening social security, reining factor markets, and expanding agricultural social services can bolstercompetitiveness while keeping social costs under control. With the ongoing progress of Chinese-style modemization,China is poised to overcome its current structural constraints within a relatively short time and advance from a majoragricultural nation to a true agricultural power.