Abstract:Recently, several regional development strategies in China’s coastal zones have become national. This will lead to huge pressures on the coastal environmental system. The assessment of Coastal Environmental Carrying Capacity (CECC) is one of the top concerned questions to determine the sustainable development of coastal areas.. Based on analysis of the concept and implication of CECC, the coastal ecosystem service was included in the CECC, which was represented as Sensibility of Vulnerable Ecosystem (SVE).The indicators of CECC were designed and structured, they consisted of indicators of sectors, population, economy, coastline, tidal mudflat, main water pollutants, and typical ecological sensitive zones. These indicators could reflect the relationship between the future economic growth and coastal environment quantitatively or quasi-quantitatively. The assessment method of CECC was also formed in this study. Then the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone (BGEZ) was used as a case study. The CECC assessement result could serve as a scientific reference for the local governments in the BGEZ. This study will enrich and improve the study of CECC in both theory and practice.