Abstract: Dongguan City is situated in the eastern part of the Pearl River Delta, southern China. The East River, one of the main tributary of the Pearl River, flows from east to west and formed river-net plain in the northern part of Dongguan City. The 32 towns or township districts in Dongguan City of Guangdong Province can be grouped into 4 geographical zones as the river-net zone in the northern part (including 11 towns or township districts); the mountainous zone in the southern part (including 9 towns); the transition zone in the central part (including 8 towns or township districts) and the water-source protection zone in the upper reach of the river-net zone in the eastern part. The GDP (Gross Domestic Production) in the river-net zone in the northern part occupied 31.03% of the total GDP in Dongguan City in 1990 but lowered to 23.32% in 2000; while GDP in the mountainous zone in the southern part occupied 19.29% of the total GDP in Dongguan City in 1990 but raised to 26.98% in 2000. The GDP proportion in the other two zones hardly changed during the same period. Investigation on the pollution discharge in 2000 in the 4 zones indicates that the pollution load in the river-net zone in the northern part occupied 73.42% of total pollution load in Dongguan City, while that in the mountainous zone in the southern part occupied only 10.48% of total pollution load in Dongguan City. Comparing the economic growth and environmental pollution in the 4 zones during the period of 1990-2000 reveals that the environmental pollution has already seriously affected the economic growth and the full play of the advantages of the towns or townships in the river-net zone in the northern part of Dongguan City (especially the towns near the river mouth), and hampered their industry from upgrading. The influence of the environmental pollution on economic growth is not restricted to where pollution is produced, where suffered most is often the towns along the lower valley or in the down-wind regions. The practice of the economic development in the water-source protection zone in the upper reach of the river-net in the eastern part indicated that,environmental protection,strictly controlling the discharge of pollutants, did not affect the development of the local economy. The environmental protection is not incompromisably in contradiction with economic development.