Addressing Rural Decline: China’s Practices in Rural Transformation and Farmers’ Income Growth

In the context of global rural decline, fostering endogenous momentum through rural transformation to increase farmers’ incomes is a challenge that nations worldwide must address. This study utilizes the 2022 “China Rural Micro-Economic Data” to construct a multidimensional rural transformation index system at the village level, encompassing demographic, land, industrial, social, digital, and ecological transformations. This study evaluates the levels of rural transformation across 15 surveyed provinces in China. Furthermore, it empirically examines the impact of rural transformation on farmers’ incomes, the underlying mechanisms, and the heterogeneity of different transformation models. The findings are as follows: (1) Coastal economically developed regions exhibit higher levels of rural transformation, while inland agricultural provinces show significant lag; (2) Rural transformation effectively promotes the upgrading of agricultural value chains, increases farmers’ market participation, and enhances their access to financial services, thereby boosting farmers’ incomes; and (3) The impact of different transformation models on farmers’ incomes varies significantly; industrial, social, and demographic transformations contribute most prominently to income growth. While digital transformation shows some positive effects, it remains relatively limited. Land and ecological transformations have yet to demonstrate a significant positive impact on farmers’ incomes.