Problems in water-land resources and environmental quality increase with the fast economic development in the coastal region of southeastern China. This region has the highest density in population, industry and towns in China, and the large export-oriented economy makes itself a strategic importance while China enters into international markets. The problems facing to this region include arable land reduction, land degradation aggravation, high percentage of built-up land with high rate of expansion, expanded non-point pollution, deteriorated water quality, decreasing biodiversity, destroyed ecosystems, severe air pollution, frequently occurred acid rain, and multi-pollutants. The important research fields in the near future should include a) influence of high-intensity exploitation of resources on changes of environment quality and its feedback; b) interface processes, key mechanisms and adjustment principles for degradation of water-, land-, and air-resources and environmental quality; c) evolvement processes and nurturing theory of biodiversity and ecological resources; and d) spatio-temporal variation and human-induced effects on regional resources and environment quality. Strategies for sustainable development in the region are as follows: a) controlling to ensure basic cultivated land area; b) enforcing remediation of polluted water environment, and controlling non-point pollution; c) strengthening ecological construction and ecological security; and d) controlling multi-pollution and preventing trace toxic pollutants.
