China, People's Republic of : Preparing Yangtze River Economic Belt Projects

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agricultural production - Land-based natural resources management - Water-based natural resources management

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban flood protection - Urban sewerage - Urban solid waste management

The Yangtze River is the People's Republic of China's (PRC's) longest river, covers more than 2 million square kilometers, one-fifth of the country geographically, and accounts for over 40% of PRC's total population and about 45% of the gross domestic product. The Yangtze River, one of the busiest inland rivers for freight traffic worldwide, is home to the largest hydropower plant in the world and is the source of water for the SouthNorth water transfer project. Nine provinces and two specially-administered cities make up the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) subregion, which includes three major urban agglomeration areas: (i) the Yangtze River Delta Global Mega Agglomeration focused on Shanghai, (ii) the Middle Yangtze City Cluster focused on Wuhan, and (iii) the Yangtze Upper Reaches focused on Chongqing. Due to its geographical and demographical advantages, the PRC Government has identified the YREB as one of the three key growth engines' to ensure PRC's future economic development.

However, environmental concerns are increasing. Pollution of the Yangtze River has reached its highest levels which has severely reduced drinking water quality, posed health risks, caused loss of biodiversity, hazardous chemical accumulation in organisms in the food chain, and increased eutrophication. Pollutants range from suspended substances, oxidizing organic and inorganic compounds, and ammonia nitrogen which result from discharge from industrial solid and chemical waste, domestic solid waste and sewage, shipping discharges, and agricultural runoff. The impact of this pollution is exacerbated in smaller lakes and tributaries off the main Yangtze River stem where shallow and slower flowing water leads to worse eutrophication and high concentrations of the pollutants. In addition, possible riverbank collapses and landslides as a result of damming, flooding, changes in land use, and deforestation add even more stress to the water quality of the Yangtze River.

In line with lessons learned from past ADB projects, the government emphasized the need for ADB support through a strategic framework approach that would coordinate and create synergy between investment projects and technical assistance (TA) to strengthen the impact of proposed assistance. ADB's scope of support to the strategic framework for the YREB focusses on green development emphasizing ecological conservation through environmental protection and rehabilitation for the Yangtze River basin to achieve (i) enhanced ecological environment to improve water quality, climate-resilient water resource use and ecosystem function; (ii) integration of upper-, middle- and low-reaches of the YREB for integrated and coordinated green development; and (iii) an integrated management mechanism for the Yangtze River that is coordinated, unified, and highly efficient for systematic protection and management.