Hunan Contributes to Yangtze River Economic Belt with Green Development and Ecological Protection

As a key province in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Hunan has over 96% of its land area within the Yangtze River Basin, boasting a 163-kilometer golden coastline and a water system where “one lake and four rivers” flow into Dongting Lake and then into the Yangtze River. In recent years, Hunan has prioritized the protection and restoration of the Yangtze River’s ecological environment, fully implementing the “Three Highlands and Four New Missions” strategy, and delivering an outstanding performance in safeguarding the river’s ecological health.

High-level promotion and institutional advancement serve as solid supports for effective ecological protection. The CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and Hunan Provincial People’s Government have established a regional coordinated development leading group led by major responsible comrades to promote the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. A series of documents have been issued, including the Implementation Plan for the New Era Dongting Lake Ecological Economic Zone Plan, along with detailed rules for the negative list of the Yangtze River Economic Belt development, forming an ecological protection planning system covering “one river, one lake, three mountains and four rivers.”

Problem-oriented and precise measures are the core to sustained ecological improvement. Over the past five years, Hunan has regarded pollution control and green protection as major livelihood projects. The excellent water quality rate of national examination sections in the province has stabilized at 98.6%, and the main streams of the four rivers—Xiang, Zi, Yuan and Li—have maintained Class Ⅱ water quality or better for five consecutive years. The total phosphorus concentration in Dongting Lake has decreased by 13.6% compared with 2019.

Since the implementation of the 10-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River, the aquatic biological integrity index has risen by three levels. From 2024 to 2025, 456,200 migratory birds overwintered in Dongting Lake, with finless porpoises increasing to 162 and elk to 323. Xinhua News reported that Dongting Lake’s ecological environment has been significantly restored, becoming a vital habitat for rare aquatic and terrestrial species.

Eliminating backward production capacity and fostering green industries are the only way to achieve win-win industrial transformation. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Hunan has relocated and closed 76 chemical enterprises along the river and 289 heavy chemical enterprises in the Xiangjiang River Basin. It has accelerated the establishment of a green manufacturing system, with 271 national-level green factories and 27 green parks nurtured accumulatively. Xinhua Net noted that 58 new national-level green factories were added in Hunan in 2024, ranking 10th in the country.

Hunan has also built 26 national ecological civilization construction demonstration zones and 9 “Two Mountains” practice innovation bases. In 2025, 1,585 new intelligent manufacturing enterprises were added, and the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 11.2%.

Leveraging its water-land advantages, Hunan has built a port system centered on Dongting Lake and hubbed at Chenglingji Port in Yueyang. The total navigable mileage of waterways in the province reaches 12,000 kilometers, with the 1,000-ton-class waterway of the Xiangjiang River to be fully connected soon, seamlessly linking with the Yangtze River’s “golden waterway.” It has also opened 12 multi-modal transport routes, with China-Europe Railway Express, Hunan-Guangdong-Africa Railway-Sea Intermodal Transport and Huaihua-ASEAN Railway Express stably maintaining the scale of “three thousand trains.”

Looking ahead, Hunan will continue to improve the cross-regional ecological compensation mechanism, accelerate the construction of a green and low-carbon industrial system, and deepen industrial chain cooperation with the Yangtze River Delta and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration, striving to build a new highland of inland opening-up and contribute more to the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.