As a typical Jiangnan water town, Dongshe Villagein Qingpu Districthas just made Shanghai history. With no factories or large buildings, the village obtained a 39.5 million yuan (US$5.81million) credit line from two banks, based entirely on the ecological value of its natural assets,calculated at 245 million yuan over the next decade.

This unique "green ledger" is known as VEP (Value of EcosystemProducts inspecificgeographicunit). Dongshe Villagespans 3.12 square kilometers, with forest coverage exceeding 30percent, including 97 hectares of woodland, dense river networks, and bamboo groves. The area is also home to cultural treasures such as the Ming Dynasty Ruilong Bridge, the Yuan Dynasty Zhuangyan Temple, and the Jinshanfen archaeological site, which dates human activity back some 5,000 years. The village’s annual Hydrangea Festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors.

A professional assessment valued Dongshe’s total ecological output for 2024–2034 at approximately 245 million yuan. Armed with this "invisible wealth" translated into concrete numbers, the village launched an integrated rural tourism operation-converting idle farmhouses into boutique homestays and wellness courtyards, transforming riverfront plots into hydrangea fields and a camping base, and turning traditional crafts into hands‑on heritage workshops.

Based on the VEP results, the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Qingpu Branch and the Agricultural Bank of China Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone Branch jointly granted a 39.5 million yuan green loan, all earmarked for rural cultural tourism. So far, 53 vacant farmhouses have been rented out, the first three homestays with 15 rooms are now open, and over 100 local families are directly benefiting.

This is the first project in Shanghai to complete VEP accounting and secure a green loan, and also the first of its kind in the Yangtze River Delta EcologyandGreeneryIntegration Demonstration Zone. The case proves that in a megacity like Shanghai, preserving nature is not a cost – it pays off.