Yangtze River Economic Belt

Last updated

Yangtze River Economic Belt
长江经济带发展规划纲要
Region
Provinces of YREB 2.svg
Subdivisions of China within the YREB
Provinces Anhui, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
Direct-administered municipalities Chongqing, Shanghai
Established2016
Population
  Total
606,000,000 [1]

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is a region along the Yangtze River. The idea was introduced in 2014 [2] and established in 2016, [3] with the Chinese government aiming to increase economic growth with minimal environmental damage. [2] Around 21% of the area of China and 40% of its population lies within the belt. [2] Eleven province-level divisions of China are included in the YREB: Anhui, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang. [4]

Contents

Geography

The YREB is made up of nine provinces and two direct-administered municipalities. [5] Around 21% of China's area lies in the belt. [2] Poyang Lake, located within Jiangxi, is the largest freshwater lake of China and is within the YREB. [6]

Economy

In 2021, the YREB consisted of 46% of the national GPD. [5] Between 2016 and 2021, the YREB region saw a direct increase in economic development as a result of the plan. [5]

As of 2020, the YREB saw an average yearly increase of 9.6% in the population of nurses per year. Growth in the nursing population was the largest in the upper regions. [7] In 2023, the tourism industry made up 23% of the YREB's GDP. [8]

Of cities that significantly reduced wastewater within the YREB, none saw economic regression. [2]

Ecological impact

In 2021, air pollutants were more common in the YREB than the rest of China. [3] The Yangtze River Economic Belt plan reduced wastewater production in the Chongqing metropolitan area by 12% per year and insignificant reductions in the Yangtze Delta. [2] Throughout the twelfth and thirteenth five-year plans, the YREB managed to eco-economically decouple itself significantly. [9] The Asian Development Bank noted that a lack of institutional integration of ecological policy likely weakened the effects that the YREB plan had on Jiangxi. [6]

References

  1. Pang, Qinghua; Dong, Xianwei; Zhang, Lina; Chiu, Yung-ho (1 January 2023). "Drivers and key pathways of the household energy consumption in the Yangtze river economic belt" . Energy. 262 125404. Bibcode:2023Ene...26225404P. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2022.125404. ISSN   0360-5442.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gong, Guan; Zhao, Yu (2024). "Ecology versus economic development: Effects of China's Yangtze River Economic Belt strategy". International Studies of Economics. 19 (3): 330–352. doi: 10.1002/ise3.75 . ISSN   2831-3224.
  3. 1 2 Peng, Meng; Xu, Hongzhang; Qu, Chenfei; Xu, Jiayu; Chen, Liurui; Duan, Lei; Hao, Jiming (25 March 2021). "Understanding China's largest sustainability experiment: Atmospheric and climate governance in the Yangtze river economic belt as a lens" . Journal of Cleaner Production . 290 125760. Bibcode:2021JCPro.29025760P. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125760. ISSN   0959-6526.
  4. Wang, Yuxin; Yu, Xinghou; Zhao, Bingjian; Xiong, Xing; Li, Yi; Zhang, Man (1 November 2022). "Evaluation of ecological carrying capacity in Yangtze River Economic Belt and analysis of its spatial pattern evolution". Ecological Indicators. 144 109535. Bibcode:2022EcInd.14409535W. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109535 . ISSN   1470-160X.
  5. 1 2 3 He, Yu; Zhang, Xiaoqi; Zheng, Huan (1 February 2025). "Impact of the Yangtze River economic belt on high-quality economic development in China: Evidence from a spatial difference-in-differences model" . Economic Modelling . 143 106962. doi:10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106962. ISSN   0264-9993.
  6. 1 2 "SECTOR ASSESSMENT (SUMMARY): WATER AND OTHER URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES; AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT; AND PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT" (PDF). Asian Development Bank . Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  7. Chen, Jieting; Liu, Yongjin; Qu, Yanbo; Xing, Juan; Zhu, Yan; Li, Xinyue; Wu, Xiangwei (24 October 2024). "A study on regional differences and convergence of nursing human resource levels in the Yangtze River Economic Belt: an empirical study". BMC Nursing . 23 (1): 781. doi: 10.1186/s12912-024-02446-2 . ISSN   1472-6955. PMC   11515474 . PMID   39449148.
  8. Qunli, Tang; Qi, Wang; Shouhao, Zhang (20 August 2025). "Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Forces of Carbon Decoupling in Tourism in the Yangtze River Economic Belt". Sustainability . 17 (16): 7516. Bibcode:2025Sust...17.7516T. doi: 10.3390/su17167516 . ISSN   2071-1050.
  9. Gong, Xiujuan; Liu, Shu; Ye, Wei; Liu, Liang (1 July 2025). "Decoupling of industrial water consumption and economic expansion in the Yangtze River Economic Belt: a comparative analysis across three Five-Year plans". Scientific Reports . 15 (1): 21186. Bibcode:2025NatSR..1521186G. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-06042-5. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   12214626 . PMID   40596108.

30°N110°E / 30°N 110°E / 30; 110