Abstract: Pig breeding was an important part of agricultural production. The panel data of 31 provinces from 2004 to 2018 were selected to measure quantitatively the imbalance degree and spatial-temporal evolution of pig breeding in China. The results showed that there was obvious regional imbalance in pig breeding in China, and the main pig breeding provinces were concentrated in the central region, southwestern region, and southern region. There was a significant positive spatial correlation in pig breeding in China, and the agglomeration effect of pig breeding was more and more obvious. Star provinces mainly included Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan, while skinny dog provinces mainly included Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Tibet. The imbalance degree of pig breeding in the whole country has changed from shrinking first to expanding. The pig breeding in potential area, key area and moderate area was relatively balanced, while the imbalance degree of pig breeding in restricted area was relatively large and expanding. The imbalance degree of pig breeding in the West and East was relatively close and higher than that in the central area. During the research period, the movement of pig breeding center mainly experienced northeast and northwest migration, and the trend of “South pig breeding in North” was obvious, while the phenomenon of “Peacock flying Southeast” was more prominent. From 2004 to 2017, the spatial distance between the focus of pig breeding and the focus of population showed a trend of first increase and then decrease, indicating that the contradiction between supply and demand of pig breeding had evolved from intensification to easing.

Key words: pig breeding, imbalance, spatial-temporal evolution, Theil index, barycenter model