Abstract: High-quality development of agricultural labour is one of the cornerstones supporting agricultural development, and with the acceleration of urbanization, the quality of agricultural labour and its impact on land scale operation in China deserve in-depth study. Firstly, the basic characteristics of the quality of agricultural labour in China were determined by the method of K-means cluster analysis, and then the impact of agricultural labour quality on the land scale operation of farmers was analysed by using CHARLS 2011—2018 four-period panel data. The study shows that ① there is 26.31% of high-level agricultural labour force in China, which is the main force of professional farmers to develop land scale operation. ② The impact of agricultural labour force quality on small-scale land operation of 0～0. 087 hm² acres is not significant; for 0. 087～0. 536 hm² acres of land, and for farmers with more than 0. 536 hm² of land, every 1 percentage point decrease in agricultural labour force quality will make the land-scale operation of farmers decrease by 4.5 percentage points and 5. 9 percentage points, respectively. ③ The quality of agricultural labour affects land scale operation by influencing the land transfer behaviour of farmers and changing the way of agricultural production inputs. The government should classify and implement policies for different types of agricultural labour, strengthen the cultivation of professional farmers, and promote the progress of agricultural modernization with the high-quality development of agricultural labour while safeguarding the rights and interests of farm households.