Abstract: 【Objective】 In recent years, vegetable supply and demand pattern characterized by “large market, great circulation” has been basically formed in China. And the change of the spatial agglomeration in vegetable industry is remarkable. In this paper, the characteristics, effects, and mechanism of the spatial agglomeration evolution in China’s vegetable production from 1995 to 2012 were systematically discussed by taking 31 provinces (cities) as research units, and the policy suggestions were also proposed. This research will provide a support for optimizing production arrangement and ensuring effective supply. 【Method】 The share of n largest provinces (cities) in total production was calculated based on the index of concentration ratio. In order to reveal the characteristics of spatial agglomeration in vegetable production industry from 1995 to 2012, the spatial concentration on provincial level was measured by using Gini coefficient model. To show the effect of production agglomeration on vegetable industry development, the model based on modified Cobb-Douglas production function was built to analyze the significance of the inputs such as vegetable production agglomeration level, vegetable price, labor per unit, and investment per unit. 【Result】 The characteristic of China’s vegetable production spatial distribution clustered in Southwest, mainly in eastern China, and less in western China at the beginning of the study period was significantly changed in the research period. During 1995 to 2012, the ratio of output in western China increased 6%. The gap gradient in output between eastern and western China diminished obviously. In the vertical direction, the ratio of output in northern China increased 5% which indicated that the gravity of output had moved towards the north. During 1995 to 2012, CR₄ and CR₈, the two indexes of concentration ratio, were increased slightly with constant fluctuation at first, and were decreased a little to steady state at the later stage, lingering between 0.4 and 0.6. The peaks of the two indexes were hit in 2001 and 2004, and the bottoms were reached in 1995 and 1997, respectively. The Gini coefficient increased at first and decreased later then. It reached its highest level of 0.5045 in 2004 and gradually decreased after that. The spatial agglomeration of vegetable production was affected by a variety of factors such as nature, society, and economy, which could lead a space reconstruction and was also a process of industrial optimization. It was more dependent on light, temperature, water, soil, and other natural factors at the beginning, and then the economic and policy factors played more important roles in the evolution process. The modified effect evaluation equation passed F-test which meant that it had a relatively high capacity in interpretation. Gini coefficient at 10% level of significance passed t-test. The result of model showed that per unit vegetable production would increase by 2.48% when Gini coefficient increased by 1%. 【Conclusion】 From 1995 to 2012, the gap gradient of China’s vegetable production between eastern and western area diminished notably. The gravity of production moved towards the north and the characteristics of spatial distribution changed obviously, especially the volatility showed at the beginning. The impact to vegetable production due to the spatial agglomeration is significant, and strengthening the agglomeration could effectively promote the production of vegetable. In view of optimizing the spatial pattern of vegetable production, strengthening the construction of the main production areas, promoting large-scale and specialized production, and focusing on the commencement of industrial nodes collaboration should be carried out in the future to promote healthy development of vegetable industry.

Key words: vegetable production, spatial agglomeration, mechanism, China