Integrating food, environment, and land: A systematic policy mapping of China’s food security framework

Abstract Food security has emerged as a global imperative for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. China, the world’s second most populous country, has long prioritized food security in national strategies, and is actively promoting a transition towards a sustainable agri-food system. However, the understanding of China’s food security governance and its integration of sustainability considerations remains fragmented. This review employs a systematic policy mapping approach to analyze the evolution of China’s food security policy framework, with particular attention to its integration with environmental protection and land-use management. By extracting and organizing policy measures from 1971 to 2025, the policy review reveals a steady policy transition toward sustainable and resilient food systems. Food supply has diversified beyond cultivated land, with a rising prominence of grassland agriculture that prioritizes ecosystem services over mere production. Since 2000, environmental protection has been systematically embedded into food security governance, with water, soil, and biodiversity as core priorities under an integrated prevention-protection-restoration governance mode. Land-use policies continue to center on cultivated land protection, complemented by spatial optimization. Spatial optimization has evolved into a foundational principle of land-use management, supporting the coordinated planning of cultivated land and grassland for reconciling production and environmental goals. The observed increase in policy integrations is enabled by a broadening array of policy actors engaging in cross-sectoral coordination. China’s food security policy agenda has embarked on a more holistic and sustainable food systems transformation pathway, providing valuable insights and references for other countries seeking similar integrated governance.