Abstract: Tea gardens represent a key direction for the conversion of farmland into non-grain agricultural production and serve as an important source of economic growth for large-scale tea-producing regions. Under China's “land occupation and compensation balance” policy mechanism, the management of tea gardens in large-scale tea-producing regions faces significant challenges, particularly during the transition toward high-quality development. Therefore, it is necessary to classify management approaches to ensure the rational phasing out of tea gardens for farmland protection while safeguarding production in advantageous tea-producing areas, thereby establishing an optimal land use pattern. Anxi County in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, was selected as the case study subject. This study constructed a suitability evaluation system based on 18 indicators across six dimensions: soil quality, topography, climate, location, economic feasibility and landscape patterns. Additionally, to address the differing needs of tea garden reclamation and quality improvement, both tea cultivation suitability evaluation and reclamation suitability evaluation were conducted to determine the most appropriate use. Subsequently, the evaluation results were zoned using a four-quadrant model. Finally, management strategies were proposed for tea gardens in different zones. The research results are as follows: 1) The tea cultivation suitability zones in Anxi County are primarily distributed in the southwestern regions of Longjuan Township, Huqiu Town, and Xiping Town, which have moderate elevations. The replanting suitability zones are mainly concentrated in the eastern low-elevation areas of Penglai Town and Jingu Town. 2) Tea garden management can be divided into four categories: Conversion Zones (2,613.48 hm²), Coordination Zones (7,506.18 hm²), Improvement Zones (40,620.64 hm²), and Restoration Zones (25,962.77 hm²). Among these, the Coordination Zone is considered suitable for both purposes, the Restoration Zone is deemed unsuitable for either purpose, the improvement Zone represents advantageous tea gardens, and the land Conversion Zone is suitable for land reclamation. 3) Key implementation strategies include policy-driven land transformation in the Conversion Zone, promotion of tea-grain intercropping models in the Coordination Zone, application of green production technologies in the Improvement Zone, and implementation of soil restoration and spatial optimization schemes in the Restoration Zone. This study established a replicable governance model that simultaneously achieves agricultural land optimization, ecological sustainability, and policy compliance, providing technical guidelines for addressing the competition between tea fields and farmland while advancing rural revitalization objectives. These findings offer actionable insights for implementing land use optimization strategies in ecologically sensitive regions globally where cash crops are cultivated.