Choosing an appropriate governance structure for rural land extended contract is crucial for the long-term stability of the agricultural land system. Based on Williams’ “governance structure selection” theory， the study explores the effective governance pathways for extended contracts from the perspective of asset specificity of agricultural land. The research findings are as follows：1） The asset specificity of agricultural land influences the choice of local governance structures through the value of agricultural land and the contradiction between people and land；2） The exclusivity of property rights，the regulation of use，and the fixed nature of geographical location jointly shape the high asset specificity of China’s agricultural land，while the regulation of grain use and the fragmentation of land further shape regional variations；3） According to the different degrees of asset specificity，“mixed governance” and “hierarchical governance” models are more suitable for the extended contract；4） The pilot practices in Area Y and County X have verified the theoretical hypothesis of this study. Therefore，when promoting the extended contract，localities should identify the characteristics of agricultural land transactions，pay close attention to the relationships formed between village collectives and households， as well as between individual households， and choose the appropriate governance structure to ensure the smooth progress of the extended contract.