Abstract:  Carbon emission reduction is a necessary way to achieve the goal of “carbon neutralization and carbon peak”. Whether the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt can effectively promote regional carbon emission reduction is an urgent problem to be explored. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2019, the study uses a double difference model to explore the impact of the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt on regional carbon emission reduction and its transmission mechanism. The research shows that: (1) the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt can significantly promote regional carbon emission reduction. (2) Heterogeneity analysis found that the carbon emission reduction effect of the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is significant in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, but not in the upper reaches. (3) The mechanism analysis shows that green technology innovation plays an intermediary role between the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and regional carbon emission reduction, and the intermediary effect value is 53.2%.