Rural Industry Revitalization Can Be Energized by Land Transfer: A Case Study in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, 2013–2022

The Chinese government has vigorously promoted the transfer of land use rights, aiming to promote the scale, intensification, and efficiency of agricultural operations and achieve rural industry revitalization (RIR). However, whether and how land transfer energizes RIR remains unclear. Taking five representative cities (Nanning, Guigang, Baise, Fangchenggang, and Guilin) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as a case study, we quantificationally characterized RIR during 2013–2022 using eleven variables and land transfer using three difference indices. We evaluated the contribution of land transfer to RIR and compared it among cities. Results showed that all five cities in Guangxi displayed an increasing trend of land transfer and RIR over the last decade. The increase in RIR was largely contributed by the improvement in infrastructure construction and industry convergence, and, to a lesser extent, by the enhancement in agricultural production efficiency. There was a strong city-specific correlation between RIR and the land transfer indices, indicating a beneficial role of land transfer in RIR. Structural equation modeling further indicated that land transfer promoted RIR, likely through facilitating infrastructure construction, enhancing industry convergence, and improving agricultural production efficiency. These results provide strong evidence that the transfer of land use rights can promote RIR and practical reference for advancing farmers’ well-being and the overall goal of rural revitalization in the future. The framework and the methodology proposed here are applicable elsewhere in China and other countries where scattering allocation of land resources represents a key limitation to agricultural production and economic development.