Yangtze River Economic Belt booms

Shanghai, lying at the estuary of the Yangtze River, is one of the economic powerhouses of China and the most affluent region in the envisaged Yangtze River Economic Belt. [Photo: vcg.com]

The west-east Yangtze, the world's third-longest river, runs through nine Chinese provinces and two municipalities, covering over two million square kilometers. 

The Yangtze River Economic Belt, envisaged by the central government, includes China’s most wealthy cities, such as Shanghai in the east, as well as the least developed regions like Guizhou province in the west. 

In total, the so-called economic belt accounts for more than 40 percent of both the national population and GDP.

In recent years, with intensive and coordinated government support, the massive and diverse geo-economic region is being developed as a new growth engine for the country.

It has also served as a grand project to reduce the social-economic gap between the mostly developed east, central and the lagging-behind western regions.

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