Abstract: Establishing and improving the ecological compensation mechanism in the Changjiang River Basin is an important way to promote high-quality green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.Based on 770 field survey data from 7 provinces in the Changjiang River Basin, this paper adopts Probit model and Tobit model to conduct empirical analysis on residents' willingness to pay(WTP)and the level of payment and their influencing factors.We draw the following conclusions:(1) The 5 variables of family living location, annual income, recognition of environmental protection policies, recognition of paying fines, understanding of policies are significantly correlated with willingness to pay;(2) Residents' ecological compensation payment level is affected by 4 variables: education level, recognition of paying fines, understanding of policies, and participation enthusiasm;(3) Further, we measure the level of payment and the minimum willingness to accept compensation of residents, and find that the minimum willingness to accept compensation is much higher than their willingness to pay, and there is a serious mismatch between the two.Then policy suggestions for improving the willingness and level of payment in the Changjiang River Basin are given.