China's agricultural imports have steadily increased, reaching US$334.32 billion in 2022, driven by economic growth and rising consumer demand. This demand now extends beyond simply quantity to encompass quality and safety concerns. The perishable nature of agricultural products, coupled with uncertainties in production and transportation, makes guaranteeing quality challenging. Furthermore, imported cold-chain products pose a risk of introducing pathogenic microorganisms. While the Chinese government prioritizes agricultural product quality and safety, effective governance necessitates a collaborative approach involving multiple entities. Relevant laws and regulations emphasize the shared responsibility of producers, operators, and consumers in ensuring food safety. This study uses grounded theory to investigate the factors influencing the quality and safety of imported agricultural products and how government, importers, and consumers can collaboratively contribute to effective governance. The aim is to provide actionable recommendations to enhance the quality and safety of imported agricultural products in China.

Existing academic literature lacks a uniform definition of "agricultural product quality and safety." Quality is typically categorized into objective (physical and chemical properties) and subjective (consumer expectations) dimensions. However, consumers primarily rely on subjective dimensions to assess quality, considering factors like packaging, labeling, price, origin, appearance, taste, health, nutrition, and safety. Quality and safety problems often stem from market failures (information asymmetry, externalities) and government failures (ineffective regulations, weak enforcement). Various factors influence the quality and safety of imported agricultural products, including trade liberalization, tariffs, exchange rates, FTA strategies, exporting country status, and regulatory levels. Research on agricultural product governance highlights the government's leading role but also emphasizes the need for multi-entity collaborative governance. While government actions such as information disclosure, penalty systems, testing standards, risk management, and regulatory systems are vital, their effectiveness is often hampered by systemic imperfections and enforcement challenges. The importance of importer responsibility in quality control and consumer protection is also recognized, with their participation in governance encompassing aspects like food recalls, exporter reviews, information disclosure, and credit evaluation. Consumer participation is another crucial aspect, despite skewed perceptions of food safety risks and the need to improve consumer awareness and knowledge of agricultural traceability. Studies show consumer willingness to pay a premium for traceable products and the significance of consumer feedback in identifying and addressing food safety issues.

This research employed a Grounded Theory (GT) approach, a qualitative research method involving open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Data sources included literature (86 Chinese and 12 foreign language articles published between 2018-2022), policy documents (e.g., "Measures for the Administration of Import and Export Food Safety"), and case studies (25 cases). NVivo 11.0 Plus software assisted in open coding, categorizing and assigning meaning to the data, resulting in 115 conceptualizations and 43 initial categories. Axial coding identified logical relationships between initial categories, leading to 8 main categories: objective quality dimensions, subjective quality dimensions, government regulation level, importer regulation level, consumer supervision level, government governance path, importer governance path, and consumer governance path. Selective coding then identified core categories: quality and safety, influencing factors, and governance path. A theoretical saturation test was conducted using the remaining one-third of the data to ensure no new categories emerged. A theoretical model was then developed, illustrated in a diagram (Figure 1), presenting a storyline connecting the categories and theoretical propositions. This model posits that the quality and safety of imported agricultural products are influenced by the levels of government regulation, importer regulation, and consumer supervision. These factors, in turn, are affected by information asymmetry, market and government failures, and the actions of each stakeholder. To empirically test this model, a structural equation model (SEM) was constructed and analyzed using AMOS 26.0 software. A survey with four parts (personal information, purchasing behavior, current situation of safety, and current situation of regulation) was administered online to 644 participants, resulting in a usable sample of 535 responses after screening. Reliability and validity analyses, including Cronbach's alpha coefficient and KMO/Bartlett's tests, were performed to assess the quality of the data. Hypotheses were derived from the GT model and tested using SEM, evaluating the direct and indirect effects of the latent variables.

The empirical analysis through SEM confirmed several hypotheses. The subjective dimension of quality positively affected the objective dimension, showing that while consumers cannot directly assess objective quality factors (counterfeiting, additives, pesticide residues), their subjective assessments (appearance, taste, freshness) influence their perception of overall quality. Government regulation significantly and positively impacted both the subjective and objective dimensions of quality. Importer regulation and consumer supervision indirectly affected quality and safety through their impact on government regulation. Consumer supervision also directly influenced importer regulation. The mediating effect of government regulation was significant in the relationships between importer regulation/consumer supervision and the subjective/objective dimensions of quality. Specifically, the level of government regulation had a significant positive effect on both the subjective and objective dimensions of quality, with standardized coefficients of 0.117 and 0.156 respectively. Importer and consumer regulation positively affected government regulation, with standardized coefficients of 0.794 and 0.171 respectively. Furthermore, consumer supervision directly and positively influenced importer regulation (standardized coefficient of 0.549). The subjective dimension of quality positively influenced the objective dimension of quality (standardized coefficient of 0.24). Reliability analysis showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > 0.9). The KMO value (0.945) and Bartlett's test results indicated the data's suitability for factor analysis.

The findings highlight the crucial role of government regulation in ensuring the quality and safety of imported agricultural products. While importers and consumers exert indirect influence through their impact on government actions, the government's regulatory capacity remains the central determinant. The significant mediating role of government regulation underscores the need for effective policy implementation and enforcement. The positive relationship between consumer supervision and both government and importer regulation demonstrates the power of consumer engagement in driving improvements. This suggests that empowering consumers with information and promoting active participation in reporting and advocacy can contribute to a more robust governance system. The study also shows that consumers' subjective assessment of quality, though not a direct measure of objective safety, plays a crucial role in their purchasing decisions and informs their overall perception of food safety. This emphasizes the importance of communicating objective safety information in ways that connect to consumers’ existing understandings and concerns.

This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the governance mechanism for imported agricultural products in China, showing the interconnectedness of government regulation, importer responsibility, and consumer engagement. The central role of effective government regulation, mediated by consumer and importer actions, is clearly demonstrated. Future research could explore the specific mechanisms through which consumer feedback influences government policy, examine the effectiveness of different communication strategies to improve consumer awareness, and analyze the role of technological advancements (e.g., blockchain, AI) in enhancing traceability and transparency in the supply chain.

The study relies on a cross-sectional survey data, limiting the ability to establish causal relationships definitively. The sample, while large, may not be fully representative of the entire population of Chinese consumers of imported agricultural products, potentially influencing the generalizability of findings. The focus is on China, limiting the transferability of results to other countries with different regulatory contexts. Future studies with longitudinal data and broader geographical coverage could address these limitations.