To explore new strategies for optimizing China’s food cultivation structure, this study empirically investigates the relationship between the food import structure and China’s food cultivation structure from the perspective of water conservation based on factor endowments theory. The following conclusions are drawn: (i) Overall, the water-intensive food cultivation structure (WFCS) in South China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River shows a slightly upward trend and is obviously at a higher level. The WFCS in the Huang-Huai-Hai and Northwest regions shows a decreasing trend and is obviously at a lower level. (ii) The structural effects of food imports (SEFI) can effectively reduce the proportion of water-intensive food cultivation (WFC). Furthermore, every 100,000 tons of food imports will, on average, reduce the proportion of water-intensive food cultivation in the region by 0.161%. The negative effect of the SEFI on the proportion of WFC in the northern region and the major food-producing regions is stronger than that in the southern region and the non-major food-producing regions. (iii) The quantile regression reveals that the marginal role played by the SEFI is progressively stronger in regions with a higher proportion of WFC. This is because in regions with a low proportion of water- and land-intensive food cultivation, regional resource endowments are still sufficient to support the production. However, as the proportion of such food cultivation increases, the regional resource endowment will have difficulty supporting normal production. In this case, the negative effect of the SEFI on the proportion of WFC will be stronger. (iv) Driven by profits, some provinces import food and then dispatch it to adjacent regions. Thus, the SEFI has a spatial spillover effect on China’s food cultivation structure. This study verifies the applicability of factor endowments theory in the field of food trade, which not only extends the boundary of research into food import structure but also provides planning suggestions for China’s food cultivation structure.

Motivation: Breaking through the constraints of water scarcity is a crucial factor for the efficient and sustainable production of food in China. Objective: To explore a new strategy to alleviate the water resource pressure in food production in China, based on the theory of resource flow, this study empirically explores the relationship between food imports and the water pressure in food production in China from the perspective of virtual water trade. Data and Method: This study collects panel data from 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China from 2003 to 2020 and employs methods such as the two-way fixed effects model, instrumental variable approach, and spatial Durbin model for empirical analysis. Results: (1) China’s net food imports surged from −0.000397 billion tons (Bt) in 2003 to 0.118325 Bt in 2020, with a rapid annual growth rate of about 9.37%. Changes in net imports are accompanied by virtual water flows. Between 2003 and 2020, the virtual water content of China’s net food imports increased from 31.7086 Bt to 187.7511 Bt, a yearly increase of 10.39%. (2) Virtual water for food imports has a mitigating effect on the water pressure in food production. Every 0.100 Bt of virtual water imported will reduce the water pressure in food production index by 0.026. The impact has a spatial spillover effect. Moreover, as there is high pressure on water resources in food production in northern regions and major grain-producing areas, the mitigating effect of food imports on the pressure of water resources in food production is also enhanced. The quantile regression found that as the water pressure in food production increases, the mitigating effect of virtual water for food imports on the water pressure in food production gradually increases. Implications: This study examines the relevance of resource flow theory within the context of food trade, thereby broadening the scope of research on virtual water trade in food. Additionally, this study offers valuable insights for the development of strategies aimed at mitigating the pressure on water resources associated with food production in China.

The exchange of food commodities significantly contributes to alleviating the strain on land used for agricultural production by linking areas rich in land with those facing resource limitations. This study employs the entropy weight–TOPSIS method to measure the water–land–food system, utilizes a two-way fixed-effects model to examine the impact of food import competition on the coordination of the water–land–food system, and applies a spatial Durbin model to explore the spatial spillover effects of this impact. The findings indicate the following: (1) The average coordination level of the WLF system in China stands at 0.317, showing considerable variability. The WLF system coordination in all regions of China initially decreased and then increased in the period studied, with the northeast region exhibiting the highest level of coordination. (2) The competitive effect of domestic and foreign food costs driven by food imports has a positive impact on the coordination of the WLF system. For every 100,000 hectares of land saved through the competition effect, the coordination of China’s WLF system increases by 0.002. However, once the saved land exceeds 1.5 million hectares, the impact of import competition on the importing country’s food market becomes excessive and starts to have a negative effect. (3) Split-sample regression revealed that the positive effect of food import competition on the coordination of the WLF system is stronger in the southern region compared to the northern region. Additionally, the increase in the competition effect has a more pronounced impact on the coordination of the WLF system in major food production areas than in non-major production areas. (4) Based on the results of the spatial econometric model, the increase in the competitive effect of food imports in a region not only increases the coordination of the WLF system within that region but also positively impacts the coordination of the system in neighboring regions. (5) The land use efficiency of food imports acts as a conduit for the impact of food import competition on the coordination of the WLF system.

Grain trade connects regions with different land endowments and can help relieve pressure on productive cultivated land. This study constructs a modified cultivated land pressure index incorporating a standardized land productivity coefficient to account for regional variations in land quality. Using provincial-level panel data for 30 regions in China from 2003 to 2020 and a two-way fixed-effects model, we investigate the association between grain import substitution and cultivated land pressure. (1) The virtual land calculations show that soybean had the highest virtual land content among the four major crops, with a national average of 0.554 ha/t, approximately three times that of rice. The virtual land content of soybean, wheat, rice, and maize declined by 20.25–25.76% during the study period, indicating continuous improvement in land-use efficiency. (2) From 2003 to 2020, cultivated land pressure showed clear regional disparities: the Northeast exhibited a gradual decline to moderate levels, and South China and the Middle–Lower Yangtze River regions increased from moderate to high pressure, while the Huang–Huai–Hai Region remained persistently high, and the Southwest remained at moderate levels. (3) Grain import substitution is significantly associated with lower cultivated land pressure, suggesting that imports may contribute to easing domestic land constraints; each additional 100,000 hectares of equivalent domestic cultivated land saved is associated with a reduction of 0.049 in the pressure index. The pressure-alleviating effect is stronger in northern regions and major grain-producing areas than in southern and non-major producing regions. (4) Spatial econometric analysis indicates positive spatial dependence, with increased grain import substitution in one region linked to lower cultivated land pressure in neighboring provinces. This study refines the conventional cultivated land pressure index and provides a framework for assessing both the direct and spillover effects of grain imports on domestic land resources. The findings underscore the potential of grain trade to support sustainable land use and regional resource allocation.

Whether agricultural cultural heritage (ACH) tourism supports sustainable heritage development depends partly on whether visits sustain the communication and internalization of heritage knowledge rather than merely produce favorable consumption evaluations. Drawing on experience economy theory, social identity theory, and tourism learning theory, this study constructs a mechanism model linking ACH experiences to tourists’ cultural learning. To reduce conceptual overlap, experience quality is defined as visitors’ perceived distinctiveness, novelty, and memorability of the visit, whereas perceived value is defined as a utilitarian assessment of gains relative to the money, time, and effort invested. ACH experience is therefore divided into three analytically distinct dimensions: experience quality, perceived value, and knowledge transfer. Cultural identity is introduced as a mediating variable and is understood as a layered psychological construct including cognitive recognition, affective attachment, and evaluative commitment. Income level is introduced as a moderating variable and is interpreted as a within-sample socioeconomic boundary condition after controlling for education and other demographic characteristics. In this study, sustainability is defined narrowly as the sociocultural continuity of ACH from the visitor side and is operationalized through perceived knowledge transfer, cultural identity, and self-reported cultural learning; income is used to examine whether this pathway differs across socioeconomic groups. Based on 430 valid questionnaires collected from visitors to ACH sites in Fujian Province, this cross-sectional study conducts empirical tests using structural equation modeling (SEM), Bootstrap mediation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that experience quality and knowledge transfer are positively associated with tourists’ cultural learning, with knowledge transfer showing the stronger association. Perceived value has no significant relationship with cultural learning, indicating that a consumption-level perception of value for money does not necessarily correspond to deeper cultural learning. Cultural identity fully mediates the statistical relationship between knowledge transfer and tourists’ cultural learning, revealing a dominant pathway linking knowledge transfer, cultural identity, and cultural learning. Income level positively moderates the relationship between cultural identity and tourists’ cultural learning. Because the data are cross-sectional and self-reported, these findings indicate theoretically consistent associations rather than definitive causal effects. The study contributes to sustainability research by offering a quantifiable visitor-side framework for monitoring knowledge communication, cultural connection, and learning-related outcomes. Repeated measurement of these indicators may support adaptive heritage management and inclusive cultural participation, but they should be combined with ecological, economic, and community-based indicators rather than treated as a complete sustainability index.

Water scarcity poses a major constraint on efficient and sustainable grain production in China. Drawing on the New New Trade Theory and Induced Technological Innovation Theory, this study empirically investigates the relationship between cost competition from grain imports and water use efficiency in grain production from a virtual water trade perspective. The results show the following: (1) From 2003 to 2020, China’s overall grain production water use efficiency exhibited an upward trend, with the Huang-Huai-Hai and Northeast regions increasing by 66.35% and 28.49%, respectively. (2) Cost competition from grain imports can force improvements in water use efficiency. For every 1 billion tons of virtual water saved through imports, water use efficiency increases by 0.008. However, when annual virtual water savings exceed 11 billion tons, import competition surpasses a critical threshold. Due to technological and facility constraints, even previously efficient producers cannot further improve efficiency in the short term, and the allocative efficiency of production factors is undermined, leading to a decline rather than an improvement in water use efficiency. (3) The positive effect of import cost competition on water use efficiency is stronger in northern regions and non-major grain-producing areas. (4) Import cost competition improves water use efficiency by reducing domestic grain production profits. This study validates the applicability of the pro-competitive effect of trade and induced technological innovation in grain trade, expands the research boundaries of virtual water trade, and provides policy insights for improving China’s grain production water use efficiency.