Cropland transfer policy is an important approach to improving the allocation of cropland resources and increasing rural households" income in China. The scale of cropland transfer market has substantially expanded driven by institutional reforms and government support over the past decades. It is of great importance to investigate whether cropland transfer can effectively enhance agricultural production efficiency, reduce agricultural pollution, and facilitate the transition toward appropriately scaled farming operations. Existing studies have examined the economic and environmental implications of cropland transfer. However, limited studies have well explored its integrated impact on agricultural resource-environment efficiency from both production and ecological perspectives. To fill this gap, this study constructed a comprehensive evaluation framework that incorporates both production efficiency and environmental performance into a unified analytical model. Specifically, by using panel data from 30 provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities) in China over the period from 2011 to 2022, a super-efficiency Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model that includes both desirable outputs (e.g., agricultural output) and undesirable outputs (e.g., agricultural non-point source pollution and carbon emissions) was employed to measure the agricultural resource-environment efficiency. In addition, a two-way fixed effects panel regression model was applied to empirically assess the overall impacts of cropland transfer on agricultural resource-environment efficiency, explore the underlying mechanisms, and identify heterogeneous effects across different institutional settings. The results are as follows: (1) Cropland transfer has a significantly positive effect on increasing agricultural resource-environment efficiency, and this finding remains robust across different model specifications. (2) The primary mechanism through which cropland transfer improves resource-environment efficiency lies in its ability to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution. However, its effect on improving resource utilization efficiency remains statistically insignificant. (3) Currently, cropland transfer cannot significantly promote large-scale agricultural operations, indicating limitations in its capacity to support broader farm consolidation and agricultural mechanization. These findings suggest that imperfections in the current cropland transfer market, such as fragmented land plots and informal contracts, constrain its potential to achieve comprehensive efficiency gains. (4) The effects of cropland transfer on agricultural resource-environment efficiency exhibit notable heterogeneity depending on contract stability and the type of transferee. Cropland transfer that are conducted under formalized, stable contracts are associated with stronger efficiency gains. In addition, cropland transferred to individual farmers appears to be more effective in enhancing resource-environment efficiency compared to those transferred to larger-scale operators such as family farms, cooperatives, or enterprises. This study establishes an integrated evaluation framework that jointly considers agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability, while provides empirical insights into the role of cropland transfer policies in promoting green and efficient agriculture development in China, which can offer actionable policy recommendations. To maximize the benefits of cropland transfer, policy efforts are suggested to focus on improving the stability and transparency of land transfer mechanisms, encouraging formalized contractual arrangements, and guiding land flows toward capable and environmentally responsible operators.