Yu Aizhi et al.: Agricultural Heritage Conservation and County-Level Economic Development: Evidence from the Designation of China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems
Members' workYu Aizhi, Zhang Zehong, Chen Yangfen
School of Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics; School of Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics; Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Yu Aizhi is an Executive Council Member of the China Association for Foreign Agricultural Economic Research and Professor at the School of Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics.
Abstract
Using traditional farming culture to develop leisure agriculture and empower the agricultural value chain is important for consolidating the economic basis of agricultural heritage conservation and promoting county-level growth. Drawing on panel data for 1,410 Chinese counties over 2010-2022 and a staggered difference-in-differences design, the paper examines the effect of the designation of China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS) on county economic development. The designation significantly raises county economic growth, a result robust to a range of checks. Leisure agriculture and related industrial agglomeration are the main channels. Effects are stronger in counties with scarce tourism resources and for cash-crop and specialty-agriculture heritage systems, and exceed those of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems designation. NIAHS designation also raises rural incomes, though not through conventional channels such as higher agricultural labour productivity. The findings provide nationwide evidence for the development and utilisation of agricultural heritage systems.
Keywords
China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems; leisure agriculture; county economy; staggered difference-in-differences
Published in China Rural Observation, No. 5, 2026 (Vol. 47, total No. 191), pp. 22-43; featured by the journal's WeChat account on 17 October 2026.