Changes of China’s Position in the World Food Trade Network

“Ensuring stability in foreign trade” and “ensuring food security” are essential parts of China’s “six priorities” and “stability in six areas”. Based on the data of bilateral food trade between countries during 1996-2018, using descriptive statistical analysis and social network analysis methods, this paper analyzed the changes of China's trade position in the world food trade network. It reached the following results. (i) China’s position in the trade network has undergone a phased process of "remarkable improvement – continuous fluctuation – significant decline – steady growth". (ii) Export participation is better than import participation, the gap between trade export strength and import strength is widening, and the effective scale and constraint index gradually improve. (iii) The change of China's position in the food trade network is affected by geographical, economic, institutional and cultural factors. In view of these findings, it is recommended to improve node centrality, enhance network participation, improve network interconnection, and prevent international market risks, so as to better deal with the complex international environment.