Expanding the import of agricultural products will not only help ensure the supply of agricultural products in China，but also help to upgrade the agricultural industry and improve the ability of sustainable development.Therefore，it is particularly important to scientifically measure the potential of agricultural imports.Based on the world bilateral trade data from 1995 to 2019，a standardized index of import potential was constructed to measure and analyze the potential and distribution characteristics of agricultural imports，and the trade margin method was used to discuss the source structure of future agricultural imports.The results show that：1） In terms of total scale，agricultural imports were insufficient before China’s accession to the WTO，increased after accession，and showed significant excessive imports starting from 2009；2） From the perspective of spatial distribution，Chinese agricultural imports excessively from the EU，NAFTA，South America and other countries（region），moderately from ASEAN，insufficiently from India and the republic of Korea，thus the key source area for future agricultural imports will be within Asia；3） From the perspective of product distribution，there is excessive import of animal products，moderate import of food processing products，and insufficient import of fruits and vegetables；4） From the perspective of source structure，there is excessive quantity of agricultural imports，moderate variety，and insufficient import prices.It is proposed to adhere to the security strategy of “relying on domestic supply with moderate import adjustments” and diversifying agricultural imports.Moreover，it is also important to implement country-specific management of agricultural imports and regional trade strategies，rationally treat and implement classification of agricultural imports by variety，actively adjust the structure of import sources and reduce the dependence on import quantity，attach importance to the import of high-quality，high-value-added agricultural products，and promote the transformation of the growth mode of agricultural imports.