Understanding “Anti-Food Waste” efforts in China: a policy text analysis based on the period 2009–2021

Abstract Food waste is a pressing global challenge requiring complex policy solutions. As a pivotal contributor to global food sustainability, China’s national anti-food waste strategy has undergone significant evolution over the past decade, meriting systematic investigation. This study conducts a policy text analysis of 37 central-government documents from 2009 to 2021, applying a three-dimensional framework integrating policy objectives, tools, and plan phases. The key findings reveal a coherent and adaptive governance trajectory: (1) The policy evolution demonstrates a clear three-phase pathway, marked by continuity between stages and innovation in governance paradigms and policy tool combinations. (2) Policy objectives have shifted from specific issues such as improving food utilization to broader national strategies, culminating in deep integration with top-level agendas like Ecological Civilization. (3) The policy tool mix has transitioned adaptively from government-led supply-type tools to demand-type tools (notably social participation), and further to a significant rise in environment-type tools, ultimately forming a composite governance framework that synergizes legal regulation, market incentives, and social norms. This trajectory reveals a governance logic of innovative continuity, characterized by a “relay” pattern of political initiation, social diffusion, and legal-systematic consolidation. Deeply rooted in China’s politico-cultural traditions such as diligence and thrift, this process effectively integrates top-down mandates with bottom-up mobilization, forming a distinct Chinese paradigm of state-society synergy. The study thus presents a dynamic and transferable policy model for complex socio-environmental governance in developing economies.