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The contradiction between economic development and environmental protection has become a major concern in many developing countries. To resolve environmental issues, political and technical measures must be considered. However, because of geographical, climatic, and economic differences, ecological issues need to be resolved at the regional level. This study proposes a complex eco-efficiency (EE) system composed of multidimensional components with entropy flows for an economic region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, in China. There were distinct disparities of eco-efficiency in urban cluster, with the higher efficiency in the central cities and the lower efficiency in the satellite cities. Based on the periodic characteristics of eco-efficiency, two distinct periods, 2008–2012 and 2013–2016, were found. The relationships among environmental regulation (ER), green technological innovation (GTI), and …