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The evolution of tea spatial agglomeration in China: An analysis based on different geographical scales

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Abstract

The spatial agglomeration of agricultural production is conducive to reducing planting costs, increasing production efficiency and improving product quality. It is an important way to promote the transformation and upgrad of tea industry and realize the modernization of China’s tea industry. This study used Gini coefficient and spatial autocorrelation analysis to explore the characteristics of tea spatial agglomeration in China from three geographical scales: regional level, provincial level and prefecture level from the year 2005 to 2015. The results indicated that there was a significant scale effect on the tea spatial agglomeration. The agglomeration degree increased from the regional level, provincial level to prefecture level. The types of spatial agglomeration evolution of the three scales were Ushaped, continuous diffusion, and continuous agglomeration. The spatial autocorrelation of tea production could only be found at the prefecture level. Meanwhile, at the prefecture scale, we could not only reveal the pattern changes at the regional and provincial levels, but also identify tea production agglomeration regions. Compared with the large scale, the small scale could reveal the characteristics of tea spatial agglomeration in more details. Factors such as natural resource endowments, cost factor, technological advancement, agglomeration economy, and agricultural policy influenced the evolution of tea spatial agglomeration from different geographical scales. Finally, from the perspectives of spatial transfer of tea production, promoting spatial agglomeration, building tea production bases, and breaking administrative boundaries, we proposed several policy suggestions for optimizing the spatial layout of tea production.

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Acknowledgements

The research reported in this manuscript is funded by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41630644). The authors extend great gratitude to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their helpful review and critical comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Han-chu Liu, Jie Fan & Yu-xi Zeng

  2. Institute of Geography Science and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Han-chu Liu, Jie Fan & Yu-xi Zeng

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, China

    Han-chu Liu, Jie Fan & Yu-xi Zeng

  4. National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Wen-zhao Wang

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  1. Han-chu Liu
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  2. Jie Fan
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  3. Yu-xi Zeng
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  4. Wen-zhao Wang
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Correspondence to Jie Fan.

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Liu, Hc., Fan, J., Zeng, Yx. et al. The evolution of tea spatial agglomeration in China: An analysis based on different geographical scales. J. Mt. Sci. 15, 2590–2602 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-5066-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-5066-3

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