Abstract: The Changjiang River Delta covers only 1% of the area in China as a whole, but is the largest comprehensive economic zone in the country. Although its population is only 6% of the total population, the GDP in this zone accounts for 20% of the whole country, supplying 22% of financial revenue for the country, indicating that the status of this area is very important in the country. With a long history, the Changjiang River Delta is rich in terms of cultural heritages in China, and it has the longest history with cultural and economic exchange with the Southeast Asian countries. Modern science and technology, culture and education have been developed comparatively well in this area. In the last 25 years, the rapid development in the Changjiang River Delta has been closely related with the development of foreign oriented economy: a large amount of foreign capitals has been attracted to this area, which has in turn promoted the economic development in this area; the foreign trade in this area has increased substantially; the foreigncapitalized enterprises have gained plentiful profits and also provided employment positions and tax revenue in this area. At present, the main foreign economic relationship of the Changjiang River Delta is with Europe and United States, Japan and South Korea; Taiwan, Hongkong and Macao have special status in China and their investments in the Changjiang River Delta account for the largest proportion and have been increasing constantly. Although the foreign economy and trade with the Southeast Asian countries does not account for a large proportion in the Changjiang River Delta, the Singapore Industrial Park in Suzhou, which is jointly invested by Singapore and China, has gained enormous financial and industrial achievements, showing that the cooperation between China and the Southeast Asian countries has a wide and prospective significance. This paper has analyzed the present industrial structure, the existing problem in relation to resources and environment, and forecasted the future development and the potential prospect in this area in respect of the cooperation with the Southeast Asian countries.

Key words: Changjiang River Delta, development, foreign oriented economy