Shifting from urban-rural dualism to urban-rural integration and promoting the synchronized development of urban and rural modernization is the key to maintaining the sustained and stable growth of China's economy. Based on the measurement and test of panel data of 28 provinces from 2003 to 2015, the research finds that there is a two-way and interactive relationship between the integrated development of urban and rural areas and economic growth in China. In a relatively long period, there is a two-way causal relationship between urban-rural integrated development and economic growth. While in a short period, there is only a one-way causal relationship between urban-rural integrated development and economic growth. Integrated development of urban and rural space, urban and rural economy, urban and rural infrastructure, urban and rural public services, and urban and rural ecological environment are all contributing to China's economic growth. Compared with the integrated development of urban and rural public services and the integrated development of urban and rural ecological environment, the integration of urban and rural space, urban and rural economic integration and urban and rural infrastructure integration has a stronger promotion effect. The impact of urban-rural integration on economic growth is spatially heterogeneous. Compared with the eastern region, the integrated development of urban and rural ecological environment in the central and western regions plays a greater role in promoting economic growth. The policy implication of this paper is that economic growth cannot actively support the integrated development of urban and rural areas, so it is necessary to strengthen the guidance of the government, take necessary institutional arrangements aiming at the integrated development of urban and rural areas, pay attention to the guidance of classification, and explore an effective model of integrated development of urban and rural areas in line with local characteristics.
