Abstract: It is an issues of concern that whether the agricultural land system reform can achieve the goal of empowering the farmers.Based on the path dependence theory, this article finds that the mechanism cutting land property rights in space and time which implemented by local governments under the old system may still continue, and restrict the realization of the goals of the agricultural land system reform.Unlike the point of view that emphasizes the nationalization of land development rights and the advantages of private ownership, this article emphasizes that whether the new policy of agricultural land can be effectively promoted does not depend on the advantages of state-owned or private institutional programs, but on how to overcome local government’s power embedding in land proper rights. Only when the fiscal and taxation system and the land management system are rationalized at the macro level can the system reform encourage local governments to empower the people and further expand the country’s space to respond to farmers’ demands.