*7.2. Policy Implications*

Given the results of our analysis, the necessity of consolidating the results of the LCP, promoting the resolution of historical problems, and continuously strengthening the protection of farmers' contracted land management rights is even more clear. We must work to expand the application of the results of the LCP, improve the management of contracted land, provide institutional guarantees for the second round of land extension, and ensure the stability of farmers' original contracted land.

Secondly, our research verified that policy and financial supports are biased towards small and medium-sized farms. Studies have shown that the promotional effect of the LCP on non-professional households and small and medium-sized farmers is significant. Therefore, we should increase policy supports for them and accelerate the construction of a policy system to support the development of smallholders, as well as improve their agricultural production, management capacity, and production efficiency. We should encourage cooperation and interaction between smallholders and new agricultural operators, and realize the linkage between smallholders and modern agriculture in order to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Thirdly, enhancing the land production function will have a major impact on efficiency. In order to achieve this, we must improve the construction of agricultural infrastructure, such as water conservation and maintenance of field roads. We must also implement the Land Consolidation Program to alleviate the fragmentation of farmland and decrease the gaps in plot quality. Finally, we must work to accelerate the construction of an agricultural information technology platform, integrate the information on agricultural production factors, and promote the efficient allocation of labor, land, and other factors to maximize the production function.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, writing, methods, and visualization, X.S.; writing, review and editing, W.Z.; review and analysis, A.C.; supervision and funding acquisition, G.Y. All of the authors contributed to improving the quality of the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 71904150).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** The dataset used in this study was provided by the Center for Social Science Survey at Sun Yat-Sen University, and raw data can be applied via official email (cssdata@mail.sysu.edu.cn). The Stata code used for the paper is available upon request from the authors.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**

