Policy coordination for green agricultural development in China: a text mining analysis

Promoting green agricultural development (GAD) through a policy mix and in a coordinated way is a critical challenge in contemporary public administration, and quantitative analysis is little used in this context. This study contributes to the literature on policy coordination by employing a semi-quantitative approach to examining central-level GAD policies in China relative to policy instruments and policy-affected segments. These results indicate that command-and-control instruments shape the policy framework, with increasing coordination being observed between these and supporting instruments. However, the coordination between command-and-control instruments and both incentive-based and information-based instruments remains volatile. In addition, policy attention is heavily concentrated on agricultural production, while green processing and consumption receive insufficient support. This imbalance leads to weak internal coordination among the segments and limited cross-coordination between instruments and segments. These findings not only advance the theoretical understanding of policy coordination but also provide actionable insights for policymakers to enhance their effectiveness in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in China and similar contexts globally.