(Yicai Global) July 31 -- The Yangtze River Economic Zone (YREZ), covering 11 provinces and cities on the Yangtze River, contributed more than two-fifths of the country's gross domestic product last year, with the area becoming an important driver for overall economic growth.

The YREZ, covering one fifth of China's total land area, had a GDP of CNY33.3 trillion (USD4.95 trillion) in 2016, up from CNY9.7 trillion in 2012, statistical data show. It made up 43.1 percent of the country's total GDP, 2.2 percentage points higher than 2012.

The zone follows the Yangtze River's course through provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the municipalities of Shanghai and Chongqing. It covers 20 percent of the country's land area and is densely populated by around 600 million people.

The middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River have shown the fastest domestic economic growth in recent years, especially upstream in Guizhou and Chongqing, and Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei and Hunan in the midstream.

As economic aggregate growth grows steadily, per-capita GDP in the YREZ is developing quickly.

In 2016, GDP per capita in the Yangtze River Economic Zone reached CNY56,470 (USD8,380), CNY2,490 higher than the national average level.

The regional economic gap within the Yangtze River Economic Zone is also narrowing. The ratio between the provinces with the highest and lowest per-capita GDP fell to 3.6 times in 2016 from 4.3 times in 2012.

The middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which used to lag behind the northeast and northwest areas of China, now have abundant industrial infrastructure. The impact of recent changes in energy demand has only slightly affected region, said Hu Xiaodeng, a researcher at Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences.

These areas of the river attract a large number of firms from traditional regions of strong economic growth, the southern Pearl River Delta and the eastern Yangtze River Delta, due to improved traffic conditions. Industries such as equipment manufacturing, electronic information and new technologies are developing well, Hu said.

Industrial level cooperation in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River has improved. Although the area has many heavy industries, its products are more adaptive to market demands compared with Northeast China and other areas. Labor resources are also sufficient and water resources are abundant. It is therefore becoming the first choice destination for industrial transfer, said Peng Peng, vice chairman of the provincial research institute, the Guangdong Society of Economic Reform.