Abstract: The main contradiction of water security in China has changed from insufficient supply to excessive environmental carrying capacity.The water environmental carrying capacity (WECC) in many regions is in a state of overload or facing the risk of overload, to support sustainable social and economic development.It is an urgent task to explore the strategy of advanced development of regional industrial structure under the constraint of WECC.This study took 11 provincial regions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as an example, and constructed models to investigate the existing problems of WECC and industrial development.The dialectical analysis of the adaptation mechanism of the two was used.A two-dimensional decoupling adaptation model of WECC and advanced industrial structure was constructed.This study aimed to provide important guidance for the formulation of regional differentiated "water-based production" policy.The findings were as follows: (1) The level of WECC in 11 provincial-level regions of the YREB was generally low and did not show a significant improving trend, with the overall spatial distribution characteristics of "downstream > midstream > upstream".The WECC of the YREB varied significantly among provinces and there was no significant spatial autocorrelation.The coupling coordination level among the four subsystems did not restrict the WECC of the YREB.Ecological water consumption rate and industrial structure were the two factors that had the greatest influence on the WECC.(2) The level of advanced industrial structure of provincial areas in the YREB basically showed an upward trend, but the effect of industrial structure upgrading was not significant.There were six two-dimensional decoupling adaptation states between the WECC and advanced industrial structure, and the optimal two-dimensional decoupling adaptation state of "high-adaptation" had not been realized.This study enriched the theory and method of "water-based production" research, and also provided an important decision-making reference for regional differentiated "water-based production" policy formulation and regional regulation of WECC.