The eco-environment and the condition of economic development in the Three Gorges area were evaluated with emergy indices calculated with the statistic data of the years from 1997 to 2005. The rising environmental loading ratio indicates an increasing pressure of economic activities on the environment and the economic development achieved at the cost of over-exploitation of resources and environment deterioration. The net emergy yield ratio implies that the economic system of this area was a self-contained, resource-export-oriented type at a relatively low level of technology. The emergy sustainability index of about 6 implies the economy of this area was under developed but had a potential to grow. According to the results of the emergy analysis, circular economy should be taken as the economic model of this region's development. This economic system should be water-resource-oriented and more open, make combined use of local and extraneous resources, and have an updated systematic structure with emphasis on emergy recirculation.
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