A young tea picker at Mengdong Tea Plantation in Xiushan County, Chongqing Municipality. In 2024, the local government launched the “New Tea Workers Initiative,” offering 500 training sessions to rural young returnees. Photo: IC PHOTO

China’s urban-rural relationship is undergoing a shift from separation to integration, accompanied by a broader movement away from the historical trend of “escaping agriculture” toward renewed engagement with farming—a process known as “re-agrarianization.” Among the clearest signs of this shift is the return of young people to the countryside, a micro-level expression of this larger transformation. For many of these youth, going back to the land is not merely an economic decision, but one rooted in settling down, starting families, and building stable livelihoods. 

Returning to countryside 

To fully advance the rural revitalization strategy and build a strong agricultural nation, it is essential to address the critical question of “who will farm the land.” In 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued a directive encouraging people returning or relocating to the countryside to pursue entrepreneurship and innovation by integrating modern technologies, production methods, and business models into agriculture. Some scholars have suggested that returning youth may hold the key to resolving the question of who will farm the land in the future. 

In academic discourse, research on young returnees taking up agriculture has largely focused on three areas. First, scholars have explored how frustrations experienced by the new generation of rural migrant workers in urban settings can lead to disillusionment with city life. Second, some studies have examined how these young returnees navigate the dynamics of reintegration into their home villages. Third, scholars have emphasized the importance of institutional support in enabling this shift. 

Despite these insights, existing studies tend to overlook two key issues. First, they often fail to recognize the dual orientation of returning youth—namely, their simultaneous pursuit of economic gain and maintenance of social ties within village communities. Second, many studies underestimate the decisive impact of broader shifts in urban-rural relations. The divide between city and countryside persists, with many young people drawn to urban life but unable to establish roots there, while urban-rural integration advances, positioning large-scale agriculture as a promising frontier for entrepreneurship. 

Triple logic behind ‘re-agrarianization’ 

To fill gaps in existing research, our team conducted fieldwork in 2023 in J Town, Anhui Province. Through semi-structured interviews with township and village officials, returning youth, and smallholder farmers, the study aimed to unpack the operating logic behind the “re-agrarianization” among returning youth within the broader context of shifting urban-rural relations. 

The concept of “re-agrarianization” arises in contrast to the earlier trend of “escaping agriculture.” Historically, Chinese farmers have pursued a semi-farming, semi-working lifestyle shaped by intergenerational divisions of labor and gradual urbanization. The lives of rural residents have long been intertwined with urban-rural mobility. However, with new employment opportunities in modern agriculture, a counter-current of re-agrarianization is emerging among younger generations. As resources increasingly flow back into the agricultural sector, farming has transitioned from a labor-intensive, low-return endeavor to a capital-intensive modern agricultural economy, with production surpluses now often exceeding income from wage labor. 

For returning youth, “re-agrarianization” is expressed as a life path centered on settling down and building a livelihood. It follows a triple logic: the logic of life, the logic of the market, and the logic of society. 

From the perspective of life logic, the desire to start a family draws young people away from cities and back to their home villages. In terms of market logic, agriculture is increasingly regarded as a viable and profitable enterprise. Young returnees seeking economic gain introduce modern production factors into traditional farming, driving its modernization. Finally, in terms of social logic, the externalities of agriculture make social relationships indispensable to the production process. The embeddedness of agriculture within village society requires these young returnees to balance the demands of modern agricultural management with traditional social obligations. 

Life logic 

With limited educational backgrounds, rural youth often migrate to cities to take up physically demanding jobs in construction or the service sector. While such work can yield substantial income, it is also exhausting and hazardous. Once health issues arise, the city tends to push these workers to the margins. The constant sense of drift and insecurity—of being unable to settle—becomes a heavy emotional burden. 

As the influence of village-based social norms weakens and urban-rural distances widen, romantic relationships among migrant youth tend to be unstable. The transient nature of migrant work makes it easy to engage in short-term intimacy, while commitments become harder to envision. In pursuit of a stable domestic life, some migrant youth opt to return to their hometowns. 

In earlier generations, poor material conditions compelled rural residents to seek work elsewhere to support their families. Today, improved living standards in rural areas, combined with the growth of modern agricultural systems, provide the material basis for younger generations to return to the family fold. The traditional model of working away from home to support the family is gradually giving way to a lifestyle centered on caregiving and presence within the household. 

Market logic 

The fundamental transformation from labor-intensive, smallholder farming to capital-intensive, modern operations has made agriculture a viable career path for returning youth. 

Returning youth often use their savings from migrant work as startup capital, investing in high-value agricultural ventures. By relying on family labor—regardless of cost—for meticulous management of production processes, they develop a form of agriculture that is both capital- and labor-intensive. This form of modern agriculture, shaped by the forces of supply and demand, must break away from the closed, self-sufficient loops of traditional farming to integrate into broader circulation networks and access the national market. Returning youth, raised in the internet age, are skilled at gathering market intelligence and building relatively stable trade relationships with distant partners. Combining digital fluency with an entrepreneurial mindset developed through urban experience, they are well-positioned to navigate the volatility of national markets. 

To compete at that level, scale is essential. Only large-scale operations can attract out-of-town distributors to purchase local agricultural products. Given the limits of individual capacity, these young farmers often organize production cooperatives or livestock associations to collaborate and pool resources. Through such structures, they bring together local farmers to jointly develop specialized agricultural industries. 

Social logic 

The core driving force behind the “re-agrarianization” of returning youth is the pursuit of both family and career. Once they anchor their “career” in agriculture, they must confront its dual nature : it is not only an economic activity, but also a social one. Agricultural production is deeply embedded in local society, with networks of acquaintances and local ethical norms continually influencing its market-oriented production. Therefore, returning youth must not only address the issue of modern agricultural management in the market but also actively reconstruct social connections within the village to ensure the relational, social, and political foundations for land transfer, hired labor, and identity recognition. 

Spontaneous land transfer reflects a hierarchical pattern that distinguishes between insiders and outsiders. Only by becoming “one of their own” and establishing a solid relationship foundation can young returnees gain access to the opportunity to manage modern agriculture. In doing so, they inherit and perpetuate the social interactions cultivated by their parents, extending the relational networks on which rural livelihoods have long depended and laying the groundwork for scaling up their operations. 

To develop capital- and labor-intensive specialized agriculture, the production process must remain embedded in local society. Through affiliation and identity, returning youth acquire the legitimacy to employ local labor. Their connection to village society serves as the gateway to the local labor market, where the social capital accumulated by their parents helps them overcome challenges in labor supervision. In turn, the employment opportunities these young returnees provide to local seniors address their labor needs as well. 

The shift from “escaping agriculture” to “re-agrarianization” also reflects a generational shift in perception. While older generations continue to see agriculture as something to leave behind, the younger generation increasingly views it as a “blue ocean” of entrepreneurial opportunity. In the face of misunderstanding or disapproval from elders, some returning youth seek recognition by pursuing political roles within the village. By obtaining a political role, such as that of a village official, their identity as farmers gradually transforms into one of political legitimacy. Once they obtain political recognition, the legitimacy of their “re-agrarianization” becomes solidified. 

The active participation of returning youth in local public affairs grants their “re-agrarianization” a political foundation. Their efforts to support the village are acknowledged by the local farmers, whose recognition of their authority is entwined with the recognition of their identity as farmers. This helps the youth firmly establish their “career” within the rural social fabric. 

In conclusion, young people are active agents in the ongoing transformation of urban-rural relations. Through their individual efforts to build both families and careers, they are implementing modern agricultural management practices and reshaping the social landscape of rural China. Their life trajectories reflect and propel the broader process of urban-rural integration. By re-engaging with agriculture, returning youth are revitalizing a sector once seen as backward, and overturning the narrative of “escaping agriculture.” Their “re-agrarianization” signals the transition from traditional small-scale farming economies to professional and specialized modern agricultural production methods. The employment choices of young people thus serve as a barometer for societal development, and their return signals meaningful progress toward urban-rural integration in contemporary China. 

Tian Yaxin is from the School of Sociology at Wuhan University. 

Edited by WANG YOURAN