Abstract:We divide virtual elements into two types: virtual resource elements and virtual ecological elements. The virtual farmland elements represented the former and virtual fertilizer/pesticide elements represented the latter; these elements are selected as our research objects. We quantitatively analyzed the trade volume of the virtual elements to establish the trade network. Our research used complex network methods to focus on the total trade volume of virtual farmland and fertilizer/pesticide elements of major agricultural products in China from 2002 to 2016. The results showed downward trends of 25.51% and 8.01% for the farmland and fertilizer/pesticide elements, respectively. The areas of the virtual farmland network with a higher degree of in-node were the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, South China, and Southwest China, while the areas with the higher degree of out-node were Huanghuaihai and Northeast China. The dynamics of the network of virtual fertilizer/pesticides show a clear opposite trend. The node strengths of the virtual elements varied greatly, with a maximum of 14.5956 million hectares and 613,800 tons for the farmland and fertilizer/pesticide elements, respectively. The cumulative distribution of both the node degree and node strength conform to a power law relationship; the "heavy-tailed" phenomenon reveals a high variability of node degree and node strength and the fragility of the network structure. The network of input areas of virtual farmland element are assortative and the output areas are disassortative; specifically, the flow of virtual farmland between regions is both agglomerated and dispersed. The correlation degree of the virtual fertilizer/pesticide element network is a reduction function, and the network is disassortative; this indicates that the flow of virtual fertilizer/pesticide is close between the eight regions. The network structure analysis lays the foundation for studying the invulnerability, optimization, and control mechanism of the network while providing a theoretical basis for a pattern of the grain trade, the establishment of grain prices, and an adjustment of the agricultural planting structure in various regions of China.