For a better response to the official document “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Based on Gold Waterway” which points out “Promote industrial transformation and upgrading by innovation，Cultivate industrial clusters with international level，and Enhance the industrial competitiveness of the Yangtze River Economic Belt”，we should first have a clear understanding about the transformation and upgrading status of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.Based on the past relevant research results，this article constructs an evaluation index system to evaluate and analyse the transformation and upgrading status of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.The evaluation results show：Industrial transformation and upgrading is obvious difference in upper，middle and lower reaches.In the lower reaches，innovative resource aggregation has obvious advantages and the innovation-driven system is basically formed.In the middle reaches，innovation-driven core has formed and the transfer rate of sci-tec results is high，but the driving capacity needs to be strengthened.The upper reaches has weak foundation but higher input-output ratio and faster innovation grows.Overall，each of the upper，middle and lower reaches has its own characteristics on innovation-driven industrial transformation and upgrading，so collaborative development is imperative.