Food processing industry changes across China regions: The case of flour, rice, oil, and other cereal derivative food

Abstract

Faced with the pressure of slowing industrial growth and industrial transformation requirements, it is crucial to analyze the changes and the corresponding driving factors of the food processing industry in China. An analysis using traditional and spatial shift‐share models was conducted to decompose the changes in the food processing industry in each region of China from 2009 to 2019 into five effects: national growth effect (NG), industrial mix effect (IM), competitive effect (CE), neighbor‐nation competitive effect (NNC), and region‐neighbor competitive effect (RNC). Among the five effects from 2009 to 2019, the NG contributed the most to the growth in most regions, indicating that the development of the food processing industry in China was greatly influenced by the industrial base and that China's food processing industry has entered a “growth bottleneck period.” During the period 2009–2014 to period 2014–2019, compared to the IM and CE, the influence of spatial spillover effects was stronger and significantly enhanced. Moreover, the IM, CE, NNC, and RNC in most southern regions were stronger than those in most northern regions. Therefore, China's food processing industry needs and is transforming into high‐quality development. It is necessary to innovate the mode of development of food processing industry and strengthen interregional exchanges and cooperation.