Quantifying the industrial development modes and their capability of realizing the ecological value in rural China

Realizing the ecological value of rural areas through industrial development is an indispensable pathway of global rural sustainable development. However, it is still unclear how to choose efficient rural industrial development modes (RIDMs) for ecological value realization in rural areas due to the lack of quantitative measures. In this study, a quantitative measurement is proposed to identify the RIDMs and evaluate their capability of realizing the ecological value in 2, 090 counties of China. The results show that the modernization of planting industry and integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries are the two most prevalent RIDMs in rural China, while the integration of agriculture and tourism and ecological tourism are the two most ecologically efficient RIDMs. Besides, the ecological value of rural China (63.11 trillion yuan) is much higher than its economic value produced (50.43 trillion yuan) in 2020, and their spatial distributions are mismatched. The western region of rural China has an enormous ecological value but create a low economic output. Our findings highlight the importance of realizing the vast ecological value of rural areas through effective RIDMs to promote the rural sustainable development in China and other developing countries.