Cultivated land conversion and bioproductivity in China

International experience shows that rapid economic growth is accompanied with a large shift of agricultural land to other uses. The overall goal of this study is to examine the changes of the area and bioproductivity of cultivated land in China where the size of economy doubled in every 8 years. Based on Landsat TM/ETM digital imagines covered China territory in the past 15 years and AEZ methodology, our study finds that, in contrast to many people expectation, China had recorded a net increase of cultivated land of 2.65 million hectares in 1986-2000, accounted for nearly 2% of cultivated land. We also found that average productivity of cultivated land declined by about 0.31% as the bioproductivity of new cultivated land converted from other uses is in general lower than that of cultivated land converted to other uses. Despite a decline in land bioproductivity in the past and a likely decline in total cultivated land in the future, their impacts on agricultural production will be minimal. China can maintain health cultivated land base for food and agricultural production in the long term.