Food Security, Urbanization and Social Stability in China

Abstract

Chinese development in both the planned economy and reform periods was determined within narrow constraints of food security, agricultural productivity and social organization of production. The reforms and their effects, most prominently rapid urbanization while ensuring food security also caused the loss of cultivable land to agriculture, environmental decline, and new dietary demands on food production. The institutional trajectories and dynamics of these processes are explored in relation to global perspectives on China's global impact.