Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>This study integrates the perspective of the “Three Rural Issues” (agriculture production, rural areas, and rural residential environment) with the Pressure–State–Response (PSR) framework to develop a comprehensive evaluation system for rural environmental sustainability, encompassing three subsystems: agricultural green development, rural natural ecosystems, and rural environmental well-being. Using panel data from 31 provinces in China over the period 2006–2023, the entropy method, coupling coordination model, and correlation analysis are applied to systematically examine the spatiotemporal patterns of rural environmental sustainability, as well as coordination within and between subsystems and their dynamic relationships. The results indicate that rural environmental sustainability in China improved markedly during the study period. However, clear imbalances persist across subsystems, characterized by rapid gains in rural environmental well-being, slower progress in the green transformation of agriculture, and a continued reliance of the natural ecosystem on its underlying conditions. A pronounced regional pattern of higher levels in the east and lower levels in the west is also observed. Although system coordination shows steady improvement, its relationship with sustainability has shifted from relative alignment to a “bottleneck” stage. In addition, socioeconomic factors exhibit generally weak associations with sustainability, while imposing predominantly negative constraints on the rural environmental well-being subsystem. Based on these findings, this study identifies representative regional patterns at different stages of development and proposes differentiated policy strategies, providing both a methodological reference and practical insights for advancing rural sustainability in China.</p>