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AIM To explore the impact of social capital on successful ageing among empty nesters in China. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. METHODS The data for this study came from the survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018. Overall, 6098 empty nesters aged 60 years and over were included. Successful ageing was defined according to Rowe and Kahn's model. Social capital includes social trust, social support, reciprocity and social networks. Multivariable logistic regression and a classification and regression tree model were applied to estimate the impact of social capital on successful ageing. For this study, we followed the Reporting of Studies Conducted Using Observational Routinely Collected Health Data (RECORD) reporting guidelines, an extension of Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines. RESULTS The successful ageing rate of empty nesters in China was 9.2%. Empty nesters who had a higher level of reciprocal behaviour and caregiving support in several dimensions of social capital and who were members of organizations in their social networks have had higher odds of achieving successful ageing. We also observed interactions with social capital associated with successful ageing, suggesting that special attention should be given to empty nesters who are less educated, have no caregiving support, live in rural areas, have worse self-rated health, are older, do not have reciprocal behaviours and are unmarried. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study show that social capital, especially in terms of reciprocity, caregiving support and organizational membership in a social network, can contribute to the achievement of successful ageing among empty nesters. IMPACT This study confirms the impact of social capital on the successful ageing of empty nesters for the first time and provides new ideas for state, community and health care workers to address ageing issues. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION Because of the public database data used in this study, all data were collected by survey agency personnel, so this section is not applicable to this study.