Land system reform is a central component of the structural-economic transformation of rural China. The activation of rural land factors is consistent with urban and rural integration, which requires a balance between factors of land, labor and capital.

Method: We develop a theoretical framework of urban-rural factors that incorporates three components: land, labor and capital and estimate the effects of rural homestead transfer (RHT) by comparing three cases of different practices at different rural homestead transfer cases.

Results: In the first case, results suggest that rural labor can only choose emigration due to non-existing local industries. In the second case, the off-site replacement was successful with the optimal allocation and reorganization of land and industries. Nevertheless, the improvement of household living standard and comprehensive rural revitalization was insufficient. In the third case, the reform has achieved local industrialization and urbanization at "low level". The land factor and the labor force were well integrated, resulting in return migration and livelihood diversification forms.

Conclusions: the activation of land factors, return migrations of the rural labor and industrialization are critical factors for rural economic development. The promotion of coordinated development of these factors can positively affect household living standards and rural revitalization. This highlights the importance of place-oriented development strategies for comprehensive rural revitalization through the reform process.