Abstract: [Objective] During the Neoproterozoic Sinian to Early Cambrian period, extensive basins in South China accumulated substantial volumes of organic-rich shale and carbonate rocks, providing high-quality source rocks and reservoirs. These regions constitute key targets for petroleum exploration. The Central Yangtze area hosts the Sinian-Early Cambrian E’Xi trough, whose formation and evolutionary processes remain subjects requiring further investigation. [Methods] Comprehensive analyses integrating drilling data, outcrop sections, and seismic profiles reveal the north-south elongated evolution history of this trough. [Results] Research indicates four distinct developmental stages: (1) During Nantuo Formation deposition, an initial subsidence center emerged in western Hubei with limited tillite thickness; (2) The Doushantuo Formation recorded a half-graben basin system, coinciding with post-Snowball Earth warming/humidification that fostered syn-depositional faulting along the eastern trough margin; (3) Dengying Formation deposition characterized carbonate platform development, establishing a 'two-platform, one-basin' architecture across the Central-Upper Yangtze Region, with a complete graben basin forming in western Hubei; (4) Niutitang Formation dominated by clastic sediments exhibits thickness complementarity with underlying Dengying dolomites, marking trough fill and termination. [Conclusions] For shale gas potential, Member II and IV of Doushantuo Formation plus Member II of Niutitang Formation host organic-rich shales as primary targets. Conventional hydrocarbon systems display a 'sandwich-style' accumulation model comprising Doushantuo source rocks, Dengying reservoirs, and Niutitang seal/source couples. Multiphase tectonic activities have disrupted some trapping mechanisms, while excessive burial depths locally induced overmatured organic matter. Therefore, identifying tectonically stable areas with moderate maturity levels serves as the key to shale gas exploration, while prioritizing regions characterized by effective hydrocarbon accumulation and favorable preservation conditions represents the strategic focus for conventional natural gas exploration.