ShareChina’s cold chain policy cuts post-harvest losses by 13%
Investment in cold storage facilities in China led to a 13% reduction in post-harvest losses in 2022, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production by a team of researchers from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Academy of Agricultural Planning and Engineering, and China Agricultural University in Beijing.
According to the IIR, refrigeration is essential for reducing food loss and waste. Expanding the global cold chain infrastructure could save 475 million tonnes of food annually, enough to feed 950 million people [1].
In China, food loss and waste have been estimated to a staggering $263.55 billion in economic loss, with fruits and vegetables accounting for about 60.5 % of the total in terms of food type and 27.2 % specifically at the post-harvest handling and storage stage [2].
In 2020, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs initiated the construction of cold chain logistics facilities specifically to address the “initial 1 km” challenge inherent in the transportation of agricultural products from rural areas to urban centres. The overarching goal was to support emerging agricultural businesses and reduce agricultural product losses during the post-harvest stage.
In a study published in September 2025 in Journal of Cleaner Production, Tai Li and colleagues assessed the impact of this policy promoting cold storage facilities at production sites, drawing on data from a large-scale 2022 survey [3].
The initiative facilitated the creation of an additional 12.5 Mt of storage capacity between 2020 and 2022. Tai Li and colleagues found that government-led investment in cold storage at production sites yielded a significant 13 % reduction in post-harvest handling and storage losses in 2022. Researchers’ projections indicate that by 2030, continued investment could achieve an additional 30 % reduction in post-harvest losses.
In addition to enhancing farmers' direct economic returns, the researchers also estimated a reduction in carbon emissions in the production process amounting to 4.7 Mt CO2eq.
The complete study is published in open access in Journal of Cleaner Production.
Sources
[1] Baha M., Hammami S., Dupont J.-L. The Role of Refrigeration in the Global Economy 3rd edition, 60th IIR Technical Brief on Refrigeration Technologies. International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR)Institut international du froid (IIF), Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.18462/iir.TechBrief.04.2025
[2] Wang, R., Lu, S., Zhou, L., Yang, Z., Tang, Z., Zhao, M., & Cheng, G. (2023). Assessing nutritional and economic aspects of food loss and waste in China. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 42, 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2023.09.010
[3] Li, T., Xue, L., Liu, P., Zhang, S., Huang, J., & Sun, J. (2025). The impact of cold storage facilities implemented at the production site on mitigating fruit and vegetable losses in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 524, 146420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146420