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China’s agricultural plastic mulch transition is a food security imperative with global implications

Nature Food (2026)Cite this article

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Recognizing these risks, China introduced a national life-cycle regulation for agricultural films in 2020 (ref. 5). However, persistent challenges remain, including gaps in residue recovery systems, inconsistent enforcement in remote regions — particularly in northwest China — and limited uptake of biodegradable alternatives. Addressing these areas is crucial for strengthening the policy’s overall effectiveness.

China is the world’s largest consumer of agricultural plastic films, accounting for more than 68% of global consumption6 and applying more than 2.5 million tonnes annually across roughly 20 million hectares. Each year, an estimated 0.5 million tonnes of residues — approximately 18.6% of the total applied — remain in soils, and about 4,329 tonnes are transported into aquatic systems via erosion and run-off2. These burdens are not evenly distributed. For example, Shandong and Sichuan6 show the lowest residual film ratios (0.027 and 0.0097, respectively) despite having the highest historical plastic film use in China (ranked first and third, respectively), contrasting sharply with provinces such as Xinjiang (ratio 0.42); this underscores persistent regional disparities in capacity and governance. Beyond on-farm impacts, life-cycle emissions are substantial; production in plastic mulch alone could contribute 2.5 kg CO2 per kg of film7, linking plastic mulching directly to climate goals. These patterns, therefore, point to the need for a coordinated and actionable framework that operates across policy, technology and place.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China

    Mingrong Liang, Yuling Liang, Yunbo Song & Yongyue Lu

  2. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Mingrong Liang

  3. Joint International Research Laboratory of Catastrophe Simulation and Systemic Risk Governance, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China

    Shaokun Li

  4. School of National Safety and Emergency Management, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Shaokun Li

  5. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Zhijian Yu

  6. Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Ling Tang

  7. School of Public Policy and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Ling Tang

  8. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

    Xinwei Yin

  9. Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan

    Noreen Khalid

  10. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Asim Biswas

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Correspondence to Mingrong Liang, Shaokun Li, Noreen Khalid or Asim Biswas.

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Liang, M., Li, S., Liang, Y. et al. China’s agricultural plastic mulch transition is a food security imperative with global implications. Nat Food (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01296-2

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