ABSTRACT
The resettlement of the population displaced by the Three Gorges reservoir and the economic development of the reservoir area are important issues of both principle and practice in the Three Gorges Project (TGP). They have aroused concerns in various quarters. Surveys are being actively conducted and resettlement plans proposed. Solving these major problems requires the following: an appropriate assessment of the economic impact of inundation on the reservoir area; a thorough understanding of the advantages of natural resources and development prospects enjoyed by the area; and a proper management of the relationship between resettlement of the people displaced and the development of the regional economy. If these problems are resolved, the TGP will serve as an advanced water conservancy project, and it will bring prosperity to the reservoir area. It will undoubtedly become a model for emulation in the course of China's four modernizations.
