Abstract: Industrial upgrading is the core driving force and sustainable pathway for rural development. Based on surveys of dozens of townships across ten agricultural districts in Tianjin, this study finds that current rural industries remain primarily driven by resource expansion and scale growth, with low development quality, and structural predicaments including weak value-added capacity, low factor allocation efficiency, poor brand value transformation, and intensifying regional “involution” competition. The underlying causes lie in policy fragmentation and administrative barriers that hinder effective collaboration, difficulties in channeling factors toward high-value-added links, and an immature industrial ecosystem. Countermeasures include strengthening departmental coordination and regional integration, innovating factor allocation mechanisms, and building a brand ecosystem systematically to promote the transformation and upgrading of rural industries.

Key words: rural industrial upgrading, industrial transformation, factor allocation