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Revisiting China’s supermarket revolution: Complementarity and co-evolution between traditional and modern food outlets

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  • Yuan, Yuan
  • Si, Zhenzhong
  • Zhong, Taiyang
  • Huang, Xianjin
  • Crush, Jonathan

Abstract

Like many emerging economies in the Global South, China is experiencing major transformations of its national and local food system characterized by the rise of supermarkets. There has been an ongoing debate on the relationship between supermarkets and wet markets in developing countries. Drawing on data from a city-wide supermarket mapping and surveys conducted in Nanjing in 2019, this paper revisits China’s “supermarket revolution” process and challenges the prediction of supermarket domination. It reveals that Nanjing’s food retailing system has been shaped by the complementarity and co-evolution of the wet market and the supermarket sectors with considerable policy support. The paper, therefore, contributes to the broader debates on the existing “supermarket revolution” theory by providing baseline evidence and new perspectives for understanding the food environment in urban China. Policymakers and researchers need to recognize the possibility of the co-evolution of supermarkets and wet markets in other cities of the Global South. Investing in urban food system planning could enhance the adaptability of the food system to improve food security.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuan, Yuan & Si, Zhenzhong & Zhong, Taiyang & Huang, Xianjin & Crush, Jonathan, 2021. "Revisiting China’s supermarket revolution: Complementarity and co-evolution between traditional and modern food outlets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:147:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x21002461
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105631
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    2. Taiyang Zhong & Zhenzhong Si & Steffanie Scott & Jonathan Crush & Kui Yang & Xianjin Huang, 2021. "Comprehensive Food System Planning for Urban Food Security in Nanjing, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Ayako Ebata & Mauricio Espinoza & Giel Ton, 2025. "Food safety certification in urban food markets: the willingness to pay for safer meat in Peru," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(2), pages 461-476, April.
    4. Alesandros Glaros & Geoff Luehr & Zhenzhong Si & Steffanie Scott, 2022. "Ecological Civilization in Practice: An Exploratory Study of Urban Agriculture in Four Chinese Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Lin, Wen & Ma, Baojie & Liang, Jiangyuan & Jin, Shaosheng, 2024. "Price response to government disclosure of food safety information in developing markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

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