In order to clarify the objects and effects of rural residential land consolidation and its effect on quantity of arable land, related documents were summarized. In terms of summarized results, all the references could be categorized into three aspects which were land consolidation potential, land consolidation modes and policy suggestions for land consolidation. Existing problems in this regard were analyzed. Moreover, great significance of rural residential land consolidation for ensuring China’s food security was highlighted. Eventually, several suggestions were proposed such as making a leading contribution to guide rural residential land consolidation by integrating theory with practice, and making great effort to implement rural residential land consolidation for increase of arable land quantity.