Abstract: Exploring the spatio-temporal transition and driving mechanism of the ecological efficiency of cultivated land use is of great significance for sustainableregional agriculturaldevelopment.Itcan also helpoptimize the policy system, and promotethe coordinated development of economy, resources and environment.In this paper, SuperSBM-Undesirable model, barycenter shift, ESTDA model, quantile model and spatio-temporal transition nesting were used to explore the spatio-temporal dynamics and driving mechanisms of cultivated land use eco-efficiency in 77 counties of Jiangsu province.The results showed that:(1) the center of gravity of eco-efficiency of cultivated land use shifted slightly to southeast and then to northwest.The high value area were mostly distributed in the “northwest - southeast” direction, while the low value area were mostly distributed in the “northeast - southwest” direction.(2)The eco-efficiency of cultivated land use showed a positive spatial correlation, with a significant spatial agglomeration of “high-high-low-low”.(3)The eco-efficiency of cultivated land use was characterized by both spatial synergy and competition, with spatial synergy leading the evolution of local spatial pattern.The path dependence of spatio-temporal evolution was obvious. There was a certain transfer inertia and path lock.(4)There were differences in the effects of various factors on different levels of eco-efficiency.Behind the four driving/restricting modes of spatio-temporal transition,there were different driving mechanismsincluding high quantile of planting structure-operating scale-industrial structure, low quantile of planting structure-operating scale, restricted by the high quantile of urban-rural gap - infrastructure, and restricted by the low quantile of agricultural infrastructure.In the future, it is urgent to build a collaborative mechanism for regional cultivated land use at the county level.It is also important to consider the comprehensive influence of multiple factors, and to formulate optimization strategies for collaborative linkage of multiple factors.In addition, differentiated efficiency optimization schemes should be formulated according to local conditions to provide targeted suggestions and guidance for the improvement of different levels of ecological efficiency.