Rural Policy Research Articles

Rural Land Transfer in the Information Age: Can Internet Use Affect Farmers’ Land Transfer-In?

Land transfer is an essential prerequisite for moderate-scale operation. Using the internet realizes the rational allocation of resources and promotes the development of agriculture and rural areas. Based on the data of 8198 farmers surveyed in the 2016 China Labor Dynamics Survey, the conditional mixed estimation method (CMP) was used to analyze how the internet use of rural households affects their land transfer-in. The results showed that: (1) There was a significant negative correlation between internet use and land transfer-in, and the marginal effect was 0.206. (2) Internet use can affect land transfer-in through social networks and the stability of off-farm employment. Among them, social networks have a positive mediating effect, which is 0.026%. The non-agricultural employment stability of the labor force has a negative mediating effect, which is 0.51%. (3) Internet use has no significant heterogeneity in land management scale, income, or suburb status, but there is heterogeneity in the way of surfing the internet. This research can deepen our understanding of the relationship between internet use and land transfer-in, and provide a reference for rural digital construction and land transfer-related policy formulation.

Key issues in promoting rural revitalisation in China

Since the rural revitalisation strategy was first introduced in the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, government agencies and scholars have put forward a series of indicators to measure its implementation. However, such a large number of indicators complicate the process. The rural revitalisation strategy aims to boost agricultural labour productivity, reduce the urban–rural income disparity, and promote the equalisation of basic public services, thereby accelerating the modernisation of agriculture and rural areas. This paper puts forward five indicators to evaluate the progress of implementing the rural revitalisation strategy. The indicators, though simple, underscore the key issues in promoting rural revitalisation in China. This paper also suggests that the rural revitalisation policy should aim to improve the quality of life of the rural population and promote the equalisation of basic public services rather than to reverse the population flow brought by industrialisation and urbanisation.

Assessment of spatial interactions in farmland abandonment: A case study of Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea

Globally, countries have experienced substantial increases in farmland abandonment and concomitant consequences, such as reduced agricultural productions, deteriorated local communities, and increased probabilities of wildfire and landslides. For better understanding of the phenomenon, previous studies have focused on finding individual factors leading to farmland abandonment, while the spatial relationships, including influences exchanged among parcels themselves, have been much less examined. In this study, we investigate the factors inducing farmland abandonment in Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do Province in South Korea, with a specific focus on the spatial interactions. We analyzed the level of spatial autocorrelation of abandoned farmlands using Moran's I and conducted a spatial autoregressive probit regression analysis to assess the factors that explain farmland abandonments, including their spatial dependence and spillover effects. We found that the global Moran's I was 0.42 for locations of abandoned farmland, justifying the use of a spatial model. The results of spatial autoregressive probit model confirmed the spatial interactions among the spatial units and spillover effects, meaning that farmland abandonment can be affected by abandonment of neighboring agricultural parcels, and that an individual parcel simultaneously receives influences of factors within itself and from factors of other parcels, respectively. Our new dispersion index confirmed that disconnection or fragmentation of farmland is associated with farmland abandonments. The finding of this research will help in establishing rural policies, focusing on the community-level cooperation system to prevent future occurrence of the farmland abandonments.

The Evolution Mode and Driving Mechanisms of the Relationship between Construction Land Use and Permanent Population in Urban and Rural Contexts: Evidence from China’s Land Survey

(1) Background: Achieving harmonious human–land relations is one of the key objectives of sustainable urban–rural development, and the degree of decoupling of permanent population levels from changes in construction land use is an important factor in related analyses. Due to the existence of huge urban–rural differences, rethinking China’s human–land relations from the perspective of integrating urban and rural areas is of great value for the advancement of high-quality urban–rural development. (2) Methods: By studying the lower reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers of China, and based on data from the second and third national land surveys of China, this paper analyzes the spatio-temporal evolution of urban and rural population, construction land use, and human–land relations from 2009 to 2019 using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and a decoupling model; in addition, this paper proposes a differentiated zoning management strategy and establishes a new framework that integrates evolutionary patterns, human–land relations, spatial effects, and policy design. (3) Results: The geographic distribution patterns of urban and rural population and construction land use remained stable over time, with high levels of spatial heterogeneity, agglomeration, and correlation. Changes in urban and rural population levels and construction land use are becoming increasingly diversified and complex, with both increases and reductions existing side by side. Based on a Boston Consulting Group matrix, the evolution patterns of urban and rural population and construction land use are divided into four types, referred to as star-cities, cow-cities, question-cities, and dog-cities. Over the time period examined in this paper, the spatial autocorrelation of urban land evolution patterns turned from negative to positive; however, that of rural land, as well as those of urban and rural population evolution patterns, were statistically insignificant. Urban human–land relations are coordinated, in general, and are mostly in a state of either weak decoupling or expansive coupling. In contrast, rural human–land relations are seriously imbalanced, and most of them are in a state of strong negative decoupling. Human–land relations are dominated by regressive changes in urban areas but remain unchanged in rural areas. Cold- and hot-spot cities are concentrated in clusters or in bands, forming a core-periphery structure. The formation and evolution of the decoupling relationship between construction land use and permanent population are the results of multiple factors, including urbanization, industrialization, globalization, and government demand and policy intervention. The interaction effects between different factors show bifactor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement, with complex driving mechanisms and large urban–rural differences. It should be highlighted that the influence intensity, operation mechanism, and changes in the trends for different factors vary greatly. Urbanization rate, gross domestic product, and government revenue are key factors that exert a strong direct driving force; international trade, foreign direct investment, and per capita GDP are important factors, while the remaining factors are auxiliary factors that remain heavily dependent on interaction effects. (4) Conclusions: To further transform human–land relations from imbalanced to coordinated, we divide the study area into four area types based on the concept of urban–rural community: urban and rural intensive policy areas, urban intensive policy areas, rural intensive policy areas, and urban and rural controlled policy areas. Furthermore, we put forward suggestions on the differentiated management of land use for the four types of policy areas.

Characteristics and influencing factors of chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications by farmers in hilly and mountainous areas of Southwest, China

Studying the characteristics and driving factors of chemical fertilizer and pesticide application of farmers is helpful for the prevention and control of regional non-point source pollution (NPSP). In this study, 320 farmers in Chongqing were surveyed, and the characteristics and main factors influencing chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications were analyzed by spatial analysis and partial least squares regression (PLSR). The results can be showed that: (1) Aaverage unit area applications of N, P2O5 and pesticide were 6.01 kg/ha/yr, 3.78 kg/ha/yr and 107.89 g/ha/yr. Among them, the fertilizer and pesticide application rates of large-scale households are 8.46 kg/ha/yr/, 5.82 kg/ha/yr and 287.61 g/ha/yr, and the application rates of general farmers are 4.54 kg/ha/yr, 2.55 kg/ha/yr and 40.21 g/ha/yr. Larger amount were applied to orchard and vegetable by large-scale farmer, while larger amounts were applied to grain by general farmers. (2) Fertilizer were spatially agglomerated on a household scale, while pesticide were spatially discrete on a county scale. (3) Average age (AA) of farmers and planting scale (PL) are the main factors affecting fertilizer amounts. Education level (EL), policy guidance (PG), and awareness of environmental effects (AEE) are the main factors influencing pesticide applications. Governments need to formulate rural labor policies and promote land transfer, while also strengthening fertilizer and pesticide reduction policies to enhance farmers’ environmental awareness.

Rural Social Security, Precautionary Savings, and the Upgrading of Rural Residents’ Consumption Structure in China

Based on the 2012 and 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, this paper explores the influence mechanism between rural social security, precautionary savings, and the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The results show that China’s rural social security can significantly promote the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure, and 1.79% of the positive effect of China’s rural social security on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China is realized through the mediating effect of precautionary saving; the robustness of the regression results is tested by a placebo test and substitution matching method. Through further research, it is found that the promotion effect of China’s rural social security on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China varies by region and age. In order to promote the sustainable upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure, rural social security policies should be further improved, and new rural social pension insurance policies should be formulated according to local conditions, which will ultimately promote the economic development of rural areas.

Key Sustainable Factors for Recreational Fishery Development Under Rural Revitalization Policy

With the promotion of rural revitalization policies, coastal cities have begun to actively develop recreational fisheries for local social and economic benefits. The recreational fishery is the future development trend of the fishery and leisure industry. Thus, this study aims to construct a set of indicators to objectively evaluate the key success factors of recreational fisheries development under rural revitalization policies. For the evaluation, relevant supporting measures are analyzed, and industry strategies are formulated. This study is conducted through a literature review and by applying the Delphi method. Through two rounds of measurement by experts and scholars, the key success factors and a set of indicators of recreational fishery development under rural revitalization policy are found. Six important dimensions are proposed, including fishery resources, environment, accommodation, services, activities, and recreational fisheries policy. After the analysis of the central tendency, 52 factors for the development of recreational fisheries are defined. The most important dimensions for recreational fishery are found to be resources and environmental conditions, followed by service conditions, activities and policy conditions, and accommodation conditions. Among them, experts and scholars are concerned about the four indicators: "Tasting delicious aquatic products", "Government support: whether the government has included the project into development and support", " Recreational fishing activities pricing" and "Talent revitalization: cultivating talents for the development of secondary and tertiary industries in fishing villages". The following suggestions are put forward with the result: (1) making recreational fishery an important object of my country's rural revitalization policy, (2) using each indicator as the basis for policy implementation, and (3) establishing a recreational fishery promotion group. At six levels, key implementation strategies are proposed.

Does professionalizing maintenance unlock demand for more reliable water supply? Experimental evidence from rural Uganda

Professionalization is gaining prominence as a strategy to address the deficiencies in rural water supply reliability and financial sustainability in low- and middle-income countries that have persisted under community management policies. Yet there is little evidence regarding how much water users can and will pay for the higher reliability that professionalized services promise. What evidence exists largely relies on stated preference studies that do not confront water users with paying over time. We conducted a price experiment to measure effective demand (willingness and ability to pay) for a professional handpump maintenance and repair service among 113 water committees and 1,031 households representative of two districts in northern Uganda. We offered a one-year subscription using Becker-DeGroot-Marschak auctions with real money payments. The service largely delivered on its guarantee of fast repairs and satisfied most customers. Nonetheless, we found that just 4% of water committees paid any price for the full service period. None paid for more than one month at prices higher than our estimate of operating cost even though it represented less than 1% of annual household expenditure. Our findings contrast assertions from recent stated preference studies that increasing handpump reliability is a lynchpin to attracting higher payments from rural water users. Misaligned incentives that discourage water users, nonprofits and their donors, local governments, and political candidates from shifting to higher tariffs for maintenance seem to best explain why effective demand was low. Despite the low demand, we estimate that professionally maintaining the existing handpumps in the study districts would cost less in the long run than the de facto practice of letting these assets fail repeatedly and rehabilitating them. As Uganda and other countries embark on maintenance-oriented, post-community management rural water policies, funders, practitioners, and researchers will need to grapple with how to align institutional incentives for sustainable financing.

Integrated development of inclusive finance and green finance promotes rural revitalization

In 2016, China put forward the topic of green finance and inclusive finance at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. Since then, more and more scholars in China have paid attention to the possibility and influence of the integrated development of green finance and inclusive finance. In recent years, China has gradually established a domestic green financial market system through a series of measures such as issuing green financial standards, disclosure requirements and encouraging green financial product innovation. According to data from the National Statistical Bulletin, by the end of 2021, the loan balance of major rural financial institutions (rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperative banks, rural commercial banks) was 2.42496 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6607 billion yuan compared with the beginning of the year. From the perspective of Liaoning Province, at the end of 2020, the balance of loans in domestic and foreign currencies of banking financial institutions in Liaoning was 520.94 billion yuan, an increase of 262.68-billion-yuan year-on-year, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. The growth rate slowed down, with a decrease of 4.9 percentage points compared with the previous year. Firstly, we select a series of indicators and use entropy method to calculate the weight of each indicator. According to the analysis and processing of historical data, the quantization results of core explained variables, core explained variables and control variables are obtained. Descriptive statistics are made according to China Rural Statistical Yearbook and Peking University Digital China GSP Financial Index (2011-2020). Then, four spatial econometric models, namely spatial Dubbin model, spatial autoregression model, spatial correlation model and spatial error model, were applied to analyze the development relationship between digital inclusive finance and rural revitalization. Based on the evaluation system of rural revitalization, the development level of rural revitalization was obtained by combining the relevant data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021. Finally, the application of LR inspection, LM test to verify the reliability of the regression results, and considering the effect of partial differential decomposition method is used to the calculation results are decomposed, the weights in different space under the condition of digital Pratt & Whitney directly influence to the time of rural financial revitalization policy and policy space spillover effects, further analysis Pratt &Whitney financial relationship with the revitalization of the development of the rural.

Integrated development of inclusive finance and green finance promotes rural revitalization

In 2016, China put forward the topic of green finance and inclusive finance at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. Since then, more and more scholars in China have paid attention to the possibility and influence of the integrated development of green finance and inclusive finance. In recent years, China has gradually established a domestic green financial market system through a series of measures such as issuing green financial standards, disclosure requirements and encouraging green financial product innovation. According to data from the National Statistical Bulletin, by the end of 2021, the loan balance of major rural financial institutions (rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperative banks, rural commercial banks) was 2.42496 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6607 billion yuan compared with the beginning of the year. From the perspective of Liaoning Province, at the end of 2020, the balance of loans in domestic and foreign currencies of banking financial institutions in Liaoning was 520.94 billion yuan, an increase of 262.68-billion-yuan year-on-year, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. The growth rate slowed down, with a decrease of 4.9 percentage points compared with the previous year. Firstly, we select a series of indicators and use entropy method to calculate the weight of each indicator. According to the analysis and processing of historical data, the quantization results of core explained variables, core explained variables and control variables are obtained. Descriptive statistics are made according to China Rural Statistical Yearbook and Peking University Digital China GSP Financial Index (2011-2020). Then, four spatial econometric models, namely spatial Dubbin model, spatial autoregression model, spatial correlation model and spatial error model, were applied to analyze the development relationship between digital inclusive finance and rural revitalization. Based on the evaluation system of rural revitalization, the development level of rural revitalization was obtained by combining the relevant data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021. Finally, the application of LR inspection, LM test to verify the reliability of the regression results, and considering the effect of partial differential decomposition method is used to the calculation results are decomposed, the weights in different space under the condition of digital Pratt & Whitney directly influence to the time of rural financial revitalization policy and policy space spillover effects, further analysis Pratt &Whitney financial relationship with the revitalization of the development of the rural.

Urban and Rural Natural Environment Protection Policies under Big Data

Urban and Rural Natural Environment Protection Policies under Big Data

Efficiency measures and influencing factors for rural land outsourcing: Evidence from China, 2003–2015

In the context of China’s vigorous promotion of its rural revitalization and land transfer policy, land outsourcing is a perspective worthy of attention to understand China’s rural land production and agricultural development. Based on rural land outsourcing in China from 2003 to 2015, this study adopts DEA efficiency analysis and Tobit regression analysis to measure the efficiency of rural land outsourcing in China as well as discuss its influencing factors. The results show that 1) from 2003 to 2015, the efficiency of rural land outsourcing in China has risen, especially in the eastern region, where the efficiency has the best performance. Overall, technical efficiency has hindered the improvement of rural land outsourcing efficiency. 2) The development of rural land outsourcing is restricted by factors such as the newly increased arable land area in rural areas, the foreign labor force, and rural managers, while land outsourcing income cannot significantly promote the expansion of land outsourcing. 3) Large rural agricultural enterprises or cooperatives enhance the efficiency of land outsourcing. Under the food security policy, realizing the technological increment of land outsourcing and land economy can effectively promote the scale and production efficiency of land outsourcing.

Economic Viability of Smallholder Agriculture in the Savannah and Transitional Zones of Ghana: Implications of Farm Output Commercialization and Farm Diversification

Smallholder agriculture remains the heart of Ghana’s food crop production and crucial to meet the zero-hunger target. Unfortunately, rural households continue to see no significant improvement in their livelihoods, as poverty and food insecurity remain high in these areas. This has raised concerns about the economic viability of smallholder agriculture in Ghana. We estimated propensity score matching on a sample of 581 farmers to determine the economic viability of the smallholder farmers and the impact of farm output commercialization and off-farm diversification on their food security and welfare status. Large-scale (>2 ha) maize production led to 8% more yield and 96% more income than small-scale (≤2 ha) production. At observed mean levels, large-scale farmers performed better in most of the livelihood outcomes. The impact of diversification and commercialization on livelihood outcomes was mixed, based on the scale of production. For small-scale farmers, diversification reduced per capita consumption expenditure, while commercialization improved food security, consumption expenditure, and income. For large-scale farmers, diversification improved yield and food security, while commercialization improved fertilizer application rate and income but reduced yield. Although small-scale farmers are not necessarily doomed, the heterogeneity of farmers’ production scale should be considered in the design of rural agricultural policies.

The contestation of ideas behind Indonesia's rural electrification policies: The influence of global and national institutional dynamics

SummaryMotivationProgress in Indonesia towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 involves contestation between the global goals and the country's political ambition. The electrification rates ambition has triggered a policy trilemma. There are targets for meeting national energy demand; there are equally important targets for improving energy access and minimizing negative impacts on the environment.PurposeThis article illustrates idea contestation within Indonesia's rural electricity policy subsystem by: (1) analysing the position of the global sustainability storyline in pre‐ and post‐SDG and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) periods; and (2) exploring the dynamic of coalition structure within both periods.Methods and approachThe data is derived from statements of political actors in the national news articles and is analysed using Discourse Network Analysis. To investigate the influence of global agendas, we perform a timeframe analysis in pre‐ and post‐SDG and NDC periods.FindingsOur analysis presented empirical evidence of the energy trilemma. The contestation between energy access, energy security, and climate change mitigation is observed in the ideas that emerged within the existing storylines. We find that sustainability has not been a primary topic of debate within the policy subsystem in pre‐ and post‐SDG and NDC periods. The findings also reveal how the global deployment of sustainability has triggered the emergence of discursive intermediaries within the policy subsystem. They are essential to framing global environmental issues to fit into internal debates.Policy implicationsFirst, the narration of implementing renewable energy has to emphasize its benefits over the energy poverty problem while injecting some messages related to environmental profit. Second, the issue of decentralization has always been the most frequent and mutually connected topic, both in terms of source utilization and governance. Therefore, it needs more attention from policy‐makers.

Gravity center change of carbon emissions in Chinese residential building sector: Differences between urban and rural area

In China, dynamic spatial–temporal evolution and urban–rural gap in carbon emissions of residential building sector are crucial for understanding the current state, which is faced with great challenges related to emission mitigation. To overcome the challenge, this study employed the gravity center model to explore spatial–temporal evolution of carbon emissions and analyzed the driving factories leading the differences between urban residential buildings and rural residential buildings via decomposition analysis. Meanwhile, Tapio decoupling index is used to predict the future movement of the gravity center. Our results indicated that: (i) the carbon emissions gravity center of both residential building types tends to move south; (ii) the northeast and northwest regions play the largest role in driving the gravity center movement of urban residential buildings and rural residential buildings, respectively; (iii) per capita disposable income is the primary factors affecting the gravity center movement. (iv) the gravity center of both residential building types might tend to move westward in the future. Overall, this study attempts to remedy the current lack of research pertaining to spatial–temporal evolution laws governing carbon emissions in the Chinese residential building sector and provides a reference point for the implementation of targeted urban and rural emission reduction policies.

Contesting rural Australia in the time of accelerating climate change

“Rural Australia” has long been a special site of political contestation. Staking the terms of public depictions of “the rural”, “the bush”, or “country life” is a constitutive thread running through Australian settler colonial identity and a cornerstone of national electoral politics. This paper analyses major News Corporation media outlets' presentation of an evolving political campaign, comparing contesting representations of farming and rural Australia deployed by the Morrison Coalition government and advocacy group Farmers for Climate Action, in the period between the government's re-election in May 2019 and July 2021. The paper steps through the key tactical discursive moves made by these contesting parties. It argues that in their depictions of rural Australia there are two important features that these perspectives share. Both embrace a discourse of increased agricultural productivity inspired by high-tech innovation, and both are silent on the related social and economic transformations that undergird the “crisis” of the rural. Consequently, public political contestation over rural policy unfolds without engaging transforming structural arrangements that fundamentally organise work and life on the land.

Social capital and soil conservation: Is there a connection? Evidence from Peruvian cocoa farms

• Agriculture associations can contribute to soil conservation if they build trust first. • For soil conservation, associations must create adherence to organic certification rules. • Informal social capital of native communities facilitates the adoption of sustainable practices. • Indigenous rules and imaginaries can be allies for rural and environmental conservation policies. • Native environmental injustices are due to imaginaries and potential dependence on reciprocity.

More use or cleaner use? Income growth and rural household energy-related carbon emissions in central China

Rural household income growth may have two counteracting effects on energy-related carbon emissions, by stimulating total energy consumption and by changing the energy structure towards low-carbon energy sources. This study aims to provide more insight into this relationship for the case of rural central China, a region where coal-fired electricity dominates modern energy consumption. Based on survey data collected in 2019, energy-related carbon emissions (ECE) and energy-related carbon intensity (ECI) per unit of energy are calculated. A mediation effect model is employed to distinguish between energy structure changes and total electricity consumption as mediating factors in the income growth – carbon emission relationship. We argue that whether biomass fuels are treated as either carbon-intensive or as carbon neutral has major consequences for the analysis. When biomass fuel is treated as carbon-intensive, income-related changes in energy structure and electricity consumption have opposite effects on ECE, but both are conducive to the reduction of ECI. When biomass fuel is treated as carbon-neutral, the positive effect of growth in coal-fired electricity consumption on ECE is much larger than the negative effect of the change in energy structure. Based on these findings, we present several recommendations for balancing two main targets of China's rural revitalization vitalization policy, i.e. rural household income growth and the transition towards low-carbon energy sources in China.

Crédito rural no Espírito Santo: análise dos resultados dos anos 2000 a 2012

O presente trabalho é um estudo sobre a política de crédito rural no Espírito Santo, definida como instrumento importante no desenvolvimento econômico e social, através do atendimento das necessidades dos produtores que precisam de recursos que possibilitem seus investimentos. Sua função é ainda mais importante no Espírito Santo, uma vez que o território capixaba é em sua maioria agrário, sendo que a área efetivamente urbanizada se concentra em poucas cidades situadas principalmente na região Metropolitana. Assim, analisar e caracterizar os resultados da política do crédito rural no estado é imprescindível para entender o apoio que o setor está a receber através de tal política. Desse modo, o objetivo é caracterizar a política de crédito rural no estado capixaba a partir da determinação do atual cenário da sua economia, do entendimento dessa política agrária e da análise dos dados do crédito direcionado ao campo.

Analyzing the Driving Mechanism of Rural Transition from the Perspective of Rural–Urban Continuum: A Case Study of Suzhou, China

Rural transition has become a core topic in the study of the urban–rural relationship in China. Analyzing the transition process and sorting out the key driving factors in different periods is essential for providing critical references for the urban–rural integration and rural revitalization policy. This paper takes Suzhou, a rapidly urbanizing prefecture-level city that has experienced three obvious stages of rural transition since China’s reform and opening-up, as the case area to explore the driving mechanism from the perspective of rural–urban continuum. We first construct the index system for measuring rural transition from two dimensions of rurality and urbanity. Then, we identify the core influencing factors of different phases from 1990 to 2015, employing spatial regression models and then extract the main driving mechanism. The results revealed the following key findings. (1) Rural transition in Suzhou has both proximity effects and structural effects; the development patterns of rural areas are becoming more heterogeneous. (2) From the rurality dimension, the regression coefficient of index representing grain production changes from positive to negative during the research periods, reflecting the “non-grain” trend of agricultural production in rural areas. (3) From the urbanity dimension, the regression coefficient of index promoting by foreign direct investment increases from 0.372 in 1990 to 0.829 in 2015, indicating that the external driving force of rural transition has become stronger. (4) In 2015, the regression coefficient of index representing tertiary industry reaches 0.468, meaning the modern service industry has played an increasingly important role in rural development. Our study provides valuable insights into the dynamic change of driving mechanism of rural transition at the town level, argues that the general trend of viewing transition process as rurality weakens and urbanity enhances could be replaced by multifunctional pathways. This study supplements existing research to understand new phenomena during the transition process, the latter offer implications for policy-making, such as grain security, spatial spillovers, and rural tourism.