China’s Comparative Advantage in Agriculture: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Agriculture is a sensitive sector in many economies; even more so in populous developing countries like China, where the limited arable land is constantly being reallocated for use in the rapidly expanding urban industries. China’s phenomenal economic growth in the past two decades has not only accelerated demand for farm products but shifted resources from agriculture to non-agricultural activities. Despite continuous growth in the agricultural sector, non-agricultural sectors have expanded at a much faster pace. China’s domestic food prices and grain prices in particular have increased dramatically in recent years. Imports of food grains reached a record level in 1995. Such developments have triggered renewed pessimism about China’s ability to feed its growing population during the next century and the resulting impact on the world economy (Brown 1995). The current debate on China’s agriculture has attracted the attention of scholars and policymakers from China and around the world.