New-quality productivity is the fundamental driving force for achieving high-quality development. Taking research findings of characteristic agriculture in Southeastern Fujian and soil and water conservation in Changting of Western Fujian as examples, scientific theory and practical path for sustainable utilization of subtropical agricultural resources in China are explored from the perspective of new-quality productivity. It is considered that the development of characteristic agriculture and ecological conservation are the research theme of sustainable utilization of agricultural resource in subtropical zones, it must be anchored in the development of new-quality productivity, which must be centered around innovation. Innovation is manifested in innovative management concepts and advanced technological means, which require the support of scientific theories and basic research. However, innovation alone cannot become new-quality productivity, it is necessary to demonstrate a qualitative improvement in term of optimizing production efficiency, product quality, and resource sustainability. The reasons for the disconnect between "new" and "quality" in developing new-quality productivity are analyzed and an effective path to connect "new" and "quality" is proposed through the examples, emphasizing that this is an important mission for resource scientists at present.