Abstract: Insect pollinators play an important role in agricultural production, especially for fruits and vegetables. However, there is now mounting evidence of pollinator decline in many countries all over the world and it is important to assess its potential impact on crop production. To assess the situation of insect pollinators in China, we first examined the changes in the number of honeybee colonies and the area planted with fruits and vegetables over the past half century. We then used the bio-economic approach, based upon the pollinator dependency of 44 crops used directly for human food, to assess the value of insect pollination for Chinese fruits and vegetables. The stock of honeybee colonies in China had increased by 161% between 1961 and 2009, while the area of fruits and vegetable cultivation had increased by 472%, and their production had increased by 833%. The growth in yield of insect-pollintated fruits and vegetables in China is closely related to the growth in the cultivated area (r=0.995, P<0.01), and is also related to the increase in the number of honeybee colonies (r=0.804, P<0.01). The total economic value of insect pollination of Chinese fruits and vegetables amounted to 52.2 billion US dollars in 2008, which represented 25.5% of the total production value of the 44 crops produced in China. In production value, apples, watermelons, pears, mangoes and plums are the leading crops that depend on insect pollination. Insect pollination thus represents a substantial economic factor for fruits and vegetables production in China, and Chinese fruits and vegetables have a higher economic vulnerability ratio to pollinators than the world’s average level of 15.9%. With the continuing increase in the area planted with fruits and vegetables, the need for the service provided by insect pollinators in China is likely to continue to increase.

Key words: Insect pollination, fruits, vegetables, economic value, honeybee, China