Journal of Peanut Science

Analyzing the spatiotemporal differentiation characteristics of competitiveness about the 14 provinces in four major peanut-producing regions of China and identifying their core driving factors are crucial for alleviating competitive involution in main producing areas and promoting the high-quality development of the peanut industry. Based on the theories of comparative advantage and resource endowment, a multidimensional evaluation system encompassing regional economy, industrial scale, factor resources, and trade was constructed. The global principal component analysis(GPCA) method was employed to dynamically analyze the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of inter-provincial competitiveness from 2018 to 2023, while the synergistic effects of driving factors were quantified through variance contribution rate decomposition. The results indicate that: 1) Inter-provincial competitiveness exhibits a gradient differentiation characterized as Northeast leading, Huang-Huai-Hai closely following, South China accumulating momentum, and the Yangtze River Basin under pressure. Resource endowment and industrial scale are the primary sources of regional differences. 2) Regional development level is the foremost driver of competitiveness, with industrial scale and resource allocation synergistically enhancing performance. Technological innovation and policy support further strengthen the dynamic competitive advantages by optimizing the combination of production factors. 3) The temporal evolution shows a trend of conversion from old to new growth drivers, through which emerging production areas are rapidly rising through technological innovation and policy support, while traditional production areas face growth stagnation due to lagging resource conversion or production efficiency bottlenecks. Based on these findings, the following region-specific policy recommendations are proposed: 1) Implement the resource transformation and value chain extension strategy in the Northeast region to convert resource advantages into economic benefits; strengthen the supply chain stabilization and risk hedging initiative in the Huang-Huai-Hai region to consolidate scale advantages and enhance risk resilience. 2) Establish a high-value trade and innovation hub in the South China region to strengthen its competitive position in the global industrial chain. 3) Launch the factor enhancement and specialized transformation project in the Yangtze River Basin to promote its transition toward green and distinctive development pathways. Through this differentiated and systematic policy portfolio, complementary advantages and synergistic development about the production regions can be fostered, thereby ensuring national grain and oil security, and supporting rural industrial revitalization.