To address the limitations of small-scale farming, farmland transfer has been promoted in China. Following the 2018 revision of the Rural Land Contracting Law, a practice has become widespread whereby village collectives retain their farmland ownership and farmers maintain contractual rights, while transferring operational rights to third parties. This study examines farmland transfer and the development of greenhouse vegetable production in S Town, located in inland China. The findings indicate that farmland transfer has enhanced both agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes. However, the following issues were identified: (1) land rents are significantly lower than the profits from vegetable production, highlighting the need for more equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms between producers and landholding farmers; (2) although farmers retain contractual rights, it is nearly impossible for them to resume cultivating the leased land themselves, rendering their rights largely symbolic; and (3) while village collectives maintain land ownership, their role in farmland management has partially diminished.
