[en] The coordinated development of the agricultural circular economy and rural tourism provides an important pathway for transforming rural ecological advantages, strengthening industrial resilience, and advancing rural revitalization. The agricultural circular economy improves resource-use efficiency and environmental quality, whereas rural tourism expands the channels through which rural ecology, culture, and agricultural products can realize economic value. Based on balanced panel data for 30 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities from 2011 to 2022, this study constructs two composite indicator systems and applies the entropy weight method and the coupling coordination model to examine their coordinated evolution. Province-level spatial visualizations, Global Moran's I, Getis-Ord Gi
*
hot-spot analysis, convergence diagnostics, and obstacle-factor diagnostics are used as supporting empirical tests. The results show that: (1) the agricultural circular economy index increased steadily, and the regional pattern gradually shifted from eastern leadership to catch-up in the central and western regions; (2) rural tourism development followed a phased path of growth, short-term shock, and recovery, indicating both market vitality and external vulnerability; (3) the two systems maintained a high coupling degree, but the coupling coordination value provided clearer discrimination of development quality, increasing significantly over time (annual trend coefficient = 0.0139,
p
< 0.001) and showing beta convergence across provinces (coefficient = −0.368,
p
< 0.001); (4) global Moran's I remained positive and significant under 999 permutation tests, and the Getis-Ord Gi
*
statistics further identified stable eastern hot spots and northwestern cold spots, suggesting weak global association but meaningful local clustering; and (5) output per unit of land, fertilizer output efficiency, agricultural value added, machinery output efficiency, and domestic tourist arrivals were the main obstacle factors. These findings indicate that policy should treat agricultural circular transformation and rural tourism as interdependent rural subsystems, prioritizing ecological value conversion, efficiency upgrading, tourism recovery, eastern spillovers, and targeted support for northwestern cold-spot regions.
Disciplines :
Business & economic sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Yu, Guangmin; Shandong Huayu University of Technology
Yang, Yueling ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Modélisation et développement
Fu, Suhao; South China Agricultural University
Zhang, Yan; Guangzhou College of Technology and Business
Chen, Huahua; Hubei University of Automotive Technology
Tian, Guoping; Hubei University of Automotive Technology
Zhang, Xilin; Shandong Huayu University of Technology
Language :
English
Title :
Coupling coordination between agricultural circular economy development and rural tourism development in China
Bai T. Xu D. Nasir M. A., (2026). A digital path to carbon neutrality: heterogeneous green innovations and their spatial impact for Chinese cities. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 228:124679. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2026.124679.
Bringezu S., (2015). Possible target corridor for sustainable use of global material resources. Resources 4, 25–54. doi: 10.3390/resources4010025.
Cahyadi E. R. Hidayati N. Zahra N. Arif C., (2024). Integrating circular economy principles into agri-food supply chain management: a systematic literature review. Sustainability 16:7165. doi: 10.3390/su16167165.
Cawley M. Gillmor D. A., (2008). Integrated rural tourism: concepts and practice. Ann. Tour. Res. 35, 316–337. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2007.07.011.
Chen M. Zhou K. Liu T., (2024a). Carbon emission efficiency of rural tourism destinations under the dual-carbon target. J. Environ. Manage. 350:119510.
Chen Y. Liu X. Zhang P., (2024b). Rural circular economy pathways and policy implications. J. Environ. Policy Plan. 26, 215–230.
Crouch G. I., (2011). Destination competitiveness: an analysis of determinant attributes. J. Travel Res. 50, 27–45. doi: 10.1177/0047287510362776.
Duan W. Pan Y., (2024). Evaluation of the sustainable development level of grain family farms in main grain-producing areas based on agricultural multi-function: a case study of Hunan Province in China. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 8:1459688. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1459688.
Dwyer L. Kim C., (2003). Destination competitiveness: determinants and indicators. Curr. Issues Tour. 6, 369–414. doi: 10.1080/13683500308667962.
Feng Z. Yang J. Wu Q., (2023). Agricultural waste recycling and carbon neutrality pathways. Sci. Total Environ. 857:159382.
Fleischer A. Tchetchik A., (2005). Does rural tourism benefit from agriculture? Tour. Manag. 26, 493–501. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2003.10.003.
Gao J. Wu B., (2017). Revitalizing traditional villages through rural tourism: a case study of Yuanjia Village, Shaanxi Province, China. Tour. Manag. 63, 223–233. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.04.003.
Gao X. Sun D. Wang L., (2022). Agricultural modernization and ecological efficiency nexus. Ecol. Indic. 140:108978.
Geissdoerfer M. Savaget P. Bocken N. M. P. Hultink E. J., (2017). The circular economy—a new sustainability paradigm? J. Clean. Prod. 143, 757–768. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048.
Getis A. Ord J. K., (1992). The analysis of spatial association by use of distance statistics. Geogr. Anal. 24, 189–206. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-4632.1992.tb00261.x.
Gössling S. Peeters P., (2015). Assessing tourism's global environmental impact 1900–2050. J. Sustain. Tour. 23, 639–659. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2015.1008500.
Guo C. Zhang R. Zou Y., (2023). The efficiency of China's agricultural circular economy and its influencing factors under the rural revitalization strategy: a DEA-Malmquist-Tobit approach. Agriculture 13:1454. doi: 10.3390/agriculture13071454.
Guo R. Wang X. Li Q., (2022). Multi-dimensional assessment of rural sustainable livelihoods under tourism development. Habitat Int. 121:102520.
Haas W. Krausmann F. Wiedenhofer D. Heinz M., (2015). How circular is the global economy? J. Ind. Ecol. 19, 765–777. doi: 10.1111/jiec.12244.
He J. Li Y. Xu S., (2023). Green innovation and rural economic resilience: empirical evidence from China. J. Clean. Prod. 382:135245.
Huang J. Sun W. Zhang X., (2023). Rural industrial integration and farmers' income growth: a spatial spillover perspective. Econ. Model. 125:106340.
Kirchherr J. Reike D. Hekkert M., (2017). Conceptualizing the circular economy: an analysis of 114 definitions. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 127, 221–232. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005.
Korhonen J. Honkasalo A. Seppälä J., (2018). Circular economy as an essentially contested concept. J. Clean. Prod. 175, 544–552. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.111.
Lane B. Kastenholz E., (2015). Rural tourism: the evolution of practice and research approaches. J. Sustain. Tour. 23, 1133–1156. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2015.1083997.
Lenzen M. Sun Y-. Y. Faturay F. Ting Y-. P. Geschke A. Malik A. et al. (2018). The carbon footprint of global tourism. Nat. Clim. Chang. 8, 522–528. doi: 10.1038/s41558-018-0141-x.
Li B. Feng Y. Xia X. et al. (2021). Evaluation of China's circular agriculture performance and analysis of driving factors. Sustainability 13:1643. doi: 10.3390/su13041643.
Li J. Chen L. Huang Y., (2023). Evaluation of rural green transformation performance. Sustainability 15:11234.
Li X. Zhang C. Wang Y., (2022). Evaluation of regional green development level and its driving mechanisms. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 29, 67845–67860.
Li Y. Li Y. Zhou Y. Shi Y. Zhu X., (2012). Investigation of a coupling model of coordination between urbanization and the environment. J. Environ. Manage. 98, 127–133. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.12.025, 22265813.
Lin H. Jiao H. Lin H. Xu X., (2025). The evolution of policies for the resource utilization of livestock manure in China. Agriculture 15:153. doi: 10.3390/agriculture15020153.
Liu F. Wang L. Gao J. Liu Y., (2025a). Study on the coupling coordination relationship between rural tourism and agricultural green development level: a case study of Jiangxi Province. Agriculture 15:874. doi: 10.3390/agriculture15080874.
Liu H. Tan Z. Xia Z., (2024a). The coupling coordination relationship and driving factors of the digital economy and high-quality development of rural tourism: insights from Chinese experience data. Land 13:1734. doi: 10.3390/land13111734.
Liu L. Wu R. Lou Y. Luo P. Sun Y. He B. et al. (2023). Exploring the comprehensive evaluation of sustainable development in rural tourism: a perspective and method based on AVC theory. Land 12:1473. doi: 10.3390/land12071473.
Liu Q. Chen D. Zhao X., (2024b). Digital transformation and sustainable development of rural industries. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 198:122945.
Liu X. Zhou G. Wang H. Wen E., (2025b). Evaluating the progress of tourism in a less-developed area of China: a tourism development index approach based on night-time light and POI data. Land 14:338. doi: 10.3390/land14020338.
Liu Y. Ma S. Zhang X. Chen J., (2026). New energy development, land system transformation, and grain productivity quality: evidence from China. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 10:1765501. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1765501.
Liu Y. Zhang H. Zhao L., (2022). Coupling coordination between ecological environment and rural economy. Ecol. Modell. 465:109880.
Ma D. Sun D. Wang Z., (2024). Exploring the rural revitalization effect under the interaction of agro-tourism integration and tourism-driven poverty reduction: empirical evidence for China. Land 13:60. doi: 10.3390/land13010060.
Ma L. Xu Y. Zhang Q., (2023). Measuring circular agriculture development using composite indicators. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 188:106707.
Meng X. Ma S. Jiang L. Tian G. Chen J. Zhang X. et al. (2026). Digital economy, climate adaptation, and agricultural resilience: evidence from Chinese prefecture-level cities. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 10:1828092. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1828092.
Mihai F. C., (2023). Circular economy and sustainable rural development. Sustainability 15:2139. doi: 10.3390/su15032139.
Moraga G. Huysveld S. Mathieux F. Blengini G. A. Alaerts L. Van Acker K. et al. (2019). Circular economy indicators: what do they measure? Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 146, 452–461. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.03.045, 31274959.
Moran P. A. P., (1950). Notes on continuous stochastic phenomena. Biometrika 37, 17–23. doi: 10.1093/biomet/37.1-2.17, 15420245.
Moscardo G., (2014). Tourism and community leadership in rural regions. Tour. Plan. Dev. 11, 354–370. doi: 10.1080/21568316.2014.890129.
Niero M. Kalbar P. P., (2019). Coupling material circularity indicators and life cycle based indicators. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 140, 305–312. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.10.002.
OECD (2024). Monitoring Progress Towards a Resource-Efficient and Circular Economy. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Ord J. K. Getis A., (1995). Local spatial autocorrelation statistics: distributional issues and an application. Geogr. Anal. 27, 286–306. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-4632.1995.tb00912.x.
Park D. B. Yoon Y. S., (2009). Segmentation by motivation in rural tourism: a Korean case study. Tour. Manag. 30, 99–108. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2008.03.011.
Paunić M. Kalenjuk Pivarski B. Tešanović D. Ivanović V. Vujasinović V. Gagić Jaraković S. et al. (2025). Intersectoral linking of agriculture, hospitality, and tourism—a model for implementation in AP vojvodina (republic of Serbia). Agriculture 15:604. doi: 10.3390/agriculture15060604.
Peng J. BaleŽentis T. Streimikiene D. Dabkiene V. Agnusdei G. P., (2025a). Circular economy in agriculture: a systematic literature review. Sustain. Dev. 33, 501–516. doi: 10.1002/sd.70017.
Peng Y. Liu Y. Mao L. Zhang J. Zhu J. Fan S. et al. (2025b). Can agricultural sustainable development and rural industrialization be achieved simultaneously? The practice of rural industrial integration from China. Agriculture 15:1729. doi: 10.3390/agriculture15161729.
Peng Z. Zhao H. Li W., (2023). Spatial-temporal evolution of rural tourism competitiveness. Tour. Manag. 94:104623.
Saidani M. Yannou B. Leroy Y. Cluzel F. Kendall A., (2019). A taxonomy of circular economy indicators. J. Clean. Prod. 207, 542–559. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.014.
Saxena G. Clark G. Oliver T. Ilbery B., (2007). Conceptualizing integrated rural tourism. Tour. Geogr. 9, 347–370. doi: 10.1080/14616680701647527.
Sharpley R., (2020). Tourism, sustainable development and the theoretical divide: 20 years on. J. Sustain. Tour. 28, 1932–1946. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1779732.
Su B., (2011). Rural tourism in China. Tour. Manag. 32, 1438–1441. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2010.12.005.
Sun D. Zhou Y., (2025). Evaluation research on ecological environment quality of rural tourism area based on AHP method. Int. J. Agric. Environ. Inf. Syst. 16:372084. doi: 10.4018/IJAEIS.372084.
Sun Y. Zhang L. Wang P., (2022). Agricultural eco-efficiency measurement based on DEA and spatial econometrics. Ecol. Econ. 194:107334.
Tang K. Li J. Chen S., (2024). Smart tourism and digital rural governance: evidence from pilot regions. Gov. Inf. Q. 41:101891.
Tang Z., (2015). An integrated approach to evaluating the coupling coordination between tourism and the environment. Tour. Manag. 46, 11–19. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.06.001.
Turtureanu A. G. Creţu C. M. Pripoaie R. Marinescu E. Ş. Sîrbu C. G. Talaghir L. G. et al. (2025). Sustainable development through agritourism and rural tourism: research trends and future perspectives in the pandemic and post-pandemic period. Sustainability 17:3998. doi: 10.3390/su17093998.
Velenturf A. P. M. Purnell P., (2021). Principles for a sustainable circular economy. Sustain. Prod. Consumpt. 27, 1437–1457. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.018.
Wang D. Chen C. Zhu N. Xu X., (2024a). Impact of agricultural digitalization on carbon emission intensity of planting industry: evidence from China. Heliyon 10:e31215. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31215, 38807878.
Wang H. Li F. Zhou D., (2024b). Integrated assessment of rural sustainable development under circular economy framework. Sustain. Dev. 32, 1445–1460.
Wang J. Yi L. Chen L. Hou Y. Zhang Q. Yang X. et al. (2024c). Coupling and coordination between tourism, the environment and carbon emissions in the Tibetan Plateau. Sustainability 16:3657. doi: 10.3390/su16093657.
Wang L. Xu J. Huang Z., (2022a). Spatial differentiation of rural tourism efficiency and influencing factors in China. Sustainability 14:8456.
Wang Q. Yang Y. Wang J. Li Y. Meng L. Yu G. et al. (2026). Rooftop distributed photovoltaic development under the whole-county promotion mode: based on farmers' self-investment. Energy Rep. 15:108980. doi: 10.1016/j.egyr.2025.108980.
Wang Q. Yu L. Yang Y., (2022b). From fragmentation to intensification: land reform in China's New Era. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19:11223. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811223, 36141496.
Wang X. Liu Q., (2024). Research on environmental protection of rural ecotourism based on PSR model. Int. J. e-Collab. 20:343094. doi: 10.4018/IJeC.343094.
World Economic Forum (2024). Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Wu J. Yang Y. Zuo J. Cao Q. Guo D. Liu S. et al. (2024). Evaluation and influencing factors of ecological resilience in tourism villages from farmers' perspectives: a case study of Chinese minority settlement areas. Front. Environ. Sci. 12:1400546. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1400546.
Wu T. Chen Y. Li M., (2023). Sustainable rural tourism development under climate change constraints. Clim. Policy 23, 912–926.
Xiao X. Xiang P. Wang H. Xia M., (2025). Driving mechanisms of the integration of ecological farms and rural tourism: a mixed method study. Agriculture 15:764. doi: 10.3390/agriculture15070764.
Xie Y. Chen K. Chen H. Zhou D. Lin Y. Xiao H. et al. (2025). How new quality productivity shapes agricultural carbon emissions in China: the masking effect of agricultural mechanization. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 9:1639452. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1639452.
Yan X. Luo M. Zhong C., (2023). Evaluation of rural tourism development level based on entropy-weighted grey correlation analysis: the case of Jiangxi Province. Grey Syst. Theory Appl. 13, 677–700. doi: 10.1108/GS-03-2023-0019.
Yang L. Wu H. Li S., (2023). Integrated development of agriculture and tourism: mechanisms and performance evaluation. Land Use Policy 126:106512.
Yang Q. Tian X. Wang H. Tan T., (2025). Exploration of the coupling coordination between rural tourism development and agricultural eco-efficiency in islands: a case study of Hainan Island in China. J. Nat. Conserv. 84:126822. doi: 10.1016/j.jnc.2024.126822.
Yang S. Guo W. Xu T. Liu T., (2024). Analysis on the evolution characteristics of rural tourism public service system from the perspective of digitalization: empirical evidence from the Silk Road Economic Belt. Sustainability 16:8810. doi: 10.3390/su16208810.
Zhang J. Qin Q. Li G. et al. (2021). Sustainable municipal waste management strategies through life cycle assessment method: a review. J. Environ. Manage. 287:112238. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112238, 33714044.
Zhang S. Wang R. Liu Y., (2022). Rural tourism carbon footprint and mitigation strategies. J. Clean. Prod. 344:131068.
Zhang Y. Li H. Chen X., (2023). Coupling coordination analysis of rural revitalization and ecological civilization construction. Ecol. Indic. 146:109876.
Zhao H. Liu F. Yang Y. Wang L., (2025). The impact of farmers' tourism participation and social capital on environmentally responsible behavior. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 9:1722532. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1722532.
Zhao H. Liu J. Bai T. Peng X. Yuan Y. Shi R. et al. (2026). Urban cooling effects of China's low-carbon city policy: causal evidence from satellite-derived urban heat islands. Energy Policy 215:115351. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115351.
Zhao Y. Jaafar M., (2025a). Integrated Delphi-entropy framework for sustainable rural tourism: evidence from Shaanxi Province, China (2018-2023). Front. Sustain. Tour. 4:1733705. doi: 10.3389/frsut.2025.1733705.
Zhao Y. Jaafar M., (2025b). Rural tourism index framework for Shaanxi Province, China from the perspective of high-quality development. Plann. Malays. 23. doi: 10.21837/pm.v23i36.1754.
Zhao Y. Liu Z. Wang Y., (2025). The effects of rural tourism on rural collective action: a socio-ecological systems perspective. Systems 13:566. doi: 10.3390/systems13070566.
Zhou Y. Liu F. Chen H., (2024). Tourism-led rural revitalization and ecological protection synergy. J. Sustain. Tour. 32, 789–807.
