Abstract: With the population increasing, the boom of industry and city, the policy stimulation, as well as the rise of external trade, shoreline changes accelerated in the Fangcheng Bay. Using Landsat data of 1973, 1979, 1990, 2000 and HJ-1B data of 2010, shoreline changes of the Fangcheng Bay during past 40 years were analyzed. The results show that the shoreline of the Fangcheng Bay kept expanding seaward constantly from 1973 to 2010, resulted in the land area increased by 4 216.61 hm², while the shoreline length decrease by 36.96 km, which was mainly induced by anthropogenic factors. As for the decreased shoreline, the muddy shoreline occupied mostly and the rocky shoreline occupied secondly. Based on the regional character of the Fangcheng Bay, the study area was divided into three parts: the Fangchengjiangkou coast, the Anbukoujiang coast and the Yuwan Island. The rocky shoreline along the Fangchengjiangkou changed slightly from 1973 to 2010, with an increase near the Fangcheng River Estuary of only 74.58 hm². Since the shoreline along Anbukoujiang is muddy, it has kept expanding seaward during past 40 years, therefore, many flexuous bays were filled. The shoreline of Yuwan Island changed the most dramatically. There's a 2 027.41 hm² increase of land area and a 2.46 km decrease of shoreline length. The remote sensing image of Yuwan Island indicates that it had united with the continent in 1990. The fractal dimension shows that the shoreline becomes straighter.

Key words: shoreline change, the Fangcheng Bay, remote sensing