Food system transformation has been a widely discussed topic in international society over time. For the last few decades, China has made remarkable achievements in food production and has contributed greatly to the reduction in global hunger and poverty. Examining experiences and lessons from China’s food security practices over the years is helpful to promote a national food system transformation for China, as well as other developing countries. This study systematically reviews the literature on Chinese food security studies, with the aim of assessing China’s food security achievements and examining the remaining and emerging issues in the pursuit of food system transformation. The results show that China has continuously promoted food system transformation in land consolidation, agri-food production technologies, management and organization modes, food reserves, trade governance, and food consumption. These transformations ensure not only food availability, timeliness, and nutrition, but also in terms of the ecological, social, and economic sustainability, feasibility, and justice of food security. However, China is also confronting new challenges in food security, for example, malnutrition, environmental unsustainability, and reductions in diversified agri-food. In the future, China is expected to be committed to promoting healthy diets, sustainable agricultural production, climate change mitigation, and the reduction of food waste and loss to enhance its agri-food system’s resilience.

Heritage conservation is an important recurring research theme on agricultural heritage systems. Improving the income of farmers from agriculture is regarded as an effective conservation approach. This study examined how the improved rice-fish-duck coculture (IRFDC) promotes the protection of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System (HHRTS) by keeping farmers farming in their hometowns. A semi-structural interview and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data on agricultural input–outputs and household employment in HHRTS. As a result, a fairly large proportion of HHRTS rice terraces were used for the hybrid rice monoculture (HRM) with chemical inputs, and most of these rice terraces were wasted for half a year on account of being left unused; the IRFDC requires considerable time input for farming and breeding, but barely needs any chemical inputs. IRFDC entails a higher cost than HRM, but also has a higher return than HRM. Driving a family to do full-time farming requires extra more than 0.71 ha rice terraces for IRFDC. In conclusion, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHSs) can be used for protecting terraces from abandonment and destruction by improving agricultural economic benefits for farmers. At present, a shortage of laborers in HHRTS sites is false. Agricultural heritage sites do not actual need so many people if peasant households can do large-scale farming.

The multiple problems of modern agriculture urge people to probe into sustainability of the traditional agriculture. As important representatives of Chinese traditional agriculture, the agricultural heritage systems on aquatic-ecological conservation (AHSAEC) are confronting threats and urgently needs to be protected. In this study, the functions and value of the AHSAECs are analyzed by multi-disciplinary methods including system analysis methods based on the review of old books and modern scientific research literature, and the nature of their sustainability are discussed, and the countermeasures against their current unsustainability are proposed. The results show that AHSAECs derive from the simple eco-agriculture models such as the Taihu Lake multi-industry compound ecoagriculture model in historical periods. These systems can integrate farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and aquaculture and make them a sustainable recycling system. Thus, they have strong ecological stability, rich cultural connotation, and good comprehensive benefits. Traditional eco-wisdom from Chinese traditional culture is the power to promote the sustainability and high-quality development of these systems. The key eco-wisdom of AHSAECs is to integrate aquaculture with livestock and poultry breeding and planting through the harmless treatment and recycling of agricultural wastes, which is conducive to the aquatic ecosystem conservation and sustainable resources utilization. Nowadays, it is urgent to preserve the eco-wisdom by establishing ecological museums to realize the productive protection and inheriting development of the heritage systems.

Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS), as a new type of heritage, has received extensive attention from the international scientific communities. With the increase of IAHS research, reviews on it have been conducted by many scholars. However, visualized research to show future research trends of IAHS are lacking. Therefore, using metrology analysis methods, this study aims at presenting the progress of research and the general development trends of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in the world from 2006 to 2020 to provide ideas for the development of countries or regions in the future. This study mapped 292 literatures from Web of Science core collections from 2006 to 2020 by CiteSpace software. The results show that research on IAHS from 2006 to 2020 experienced two stages: the fluctuating increase stage, and the steady growth stage. Author groups from China, Italy, the USA, Japan, etc., contributed many papers on IAHS. Institutions including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Florence and the University of Padua in Italy, etc., have a relatively high influence on international IAHS research. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment is the most cited journal. Agricultural Heritage Systems, regeneration, agriculture, agroforestry, dry-stone wall, social capital, instability, and agricultural biodiversity have been hotspots in the past 15 years. The research themes mainly focus on GIAHS, tourism, livelihood assets, and direct georeferencing. Authors in different regions concern different research themes. In the future, the fields of applications and microscopic views, social sciences, applications of standardized quantitative research methods, and broadened international cooperation should be paid more attention.