This survey aims to document recent rural and agricultural development in Guangdong province and provide researchers with household data to evaluate the impact of a rural vitalization strategy implemented by the central government since 2018. The survey records detailed information about targeted poverty alleviation, rural governance, ecological environment, education, land acquisition, development of rural finance, and other aspects.

In 2018, the SDC carried out a baseline survey. During this wave, Thousand-Village Survey conducted interviews with about 3,000 households across nearly 100 villages in Guangdong. In 2019, the second wave successfully tracked more than 2,000 households and added random updates on the nearly 100 villages surveyed in 2018 by including 20 new villages. In total, the second wave completed interviews with more than 3,500 households.