Although many countries around the world, especially China, highlight the strategy of green development, there has been little research evaluating the effectiveness of green development policies in local area. This study explores 16 policy texts with the theme of green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China. Using the Policy Modeling Consistency Index (PMC-Index) model, the paper establishes a multi-input–output policy table and scientifically and systematically evaluates these policies. The results show that the average PMC index of the 16 policy texts is 6.83, indicating a high overall quality of policy texts. The index identifies two states of policy effectiveness as being good and excellent; 50% of the total texts fall into these categories and do not fall into the category of having a low level of policy effectiveness. Five indicators, including policy timeliness, social benefits, policy audience scope, and incentives and constraints, significantly impact the PMC-Index of the policy. Six representative policy samples were selected and analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages of the policy can be more fully understood by the degree of depression of the PMC’s three-dimensional curved surface (PMC-Surface) model. Finally, the paper provides theoretical recommendations for the optimization of the green development policies.

“Guiding Opinions on Relying on the Golden Waterway to Promote the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB)”, the “YREB Development Policy”, is a national Chinese policy aiming to promote industrial structure upgrading and high-quality development in the YREB. To test the effects of this policy, we used 2009–2019 data from 283 cities to examine whether its implementation promoted regional industrial structure upgrading. The YREB Development Policy positively impacted industrial structure advancement but scarcely benefited industrial structure rationalization. Moreover, the impacts indicated a temporary, unsustainable influence on industrial structure advancement, presenting a clear U-shaped development trend. The YREB Development Policy can more significantly improve industrial structure upgrading in cities with large populations. The effects of this policy on industrial structure upgrading in the middle and lower reaches of the YREB are almost five times that in the upper reaches. In addition, the policy more greatly impacts the tertiary industry than the primary and secondary industries, especially in the lower reaches. These findings have policy-making implications, enrich the research regarding the YREB Development Policy impacts on industrial structure upgrading, and provide an empirical reference to improve subsequent policies.