Abstract: The sustainable development stresses the harmony between population, resources, environment, and social and economic development. And man is the premium for the sustainable development as well as the agent for such development. At present, there are a large amount of surplus laborers with relatively low caliber in addition to a large amount of population in poverty. These have become great barriers to the sustainable development in rural areas. Therefore, to get the sustainable development in rural areas, we have to control effectively the surplus rural laborers, improve their caliber and take some measure to reduce the population in poverty.