The Qinba mountainous area is one of the 11 contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China and has remarkable ecological values. It is significant to push higher quality development in this region. Based on a systematic investigation on economic and social development in regional cities, this study made a quantitative analysis on spatial correlation and industrial structure similarity among cities with different levels of development surrounding the Qinba mountainous area. The results reveal that the core cities in this region play a relatively weak role in stimulating the development of surrounding areas and have almost no interaction with the underdeveloped areas; the high industry homogeneity has become the bottleneck restricting the endogenous economic growth; and the ecological screen function of the Qinba mountainous area has been excessively “fragmented” due to the development pattern based on jurisdiction, resulting in increasingly serious ecological problems. In view of this, this study suggests that we should focus on the integrity of the Qinba Mountain ecosystem, change the idea of development, break the administrative restrictions, strengthen the toplevel design and strategic guidance at the national level, and promote the higher quality development of the Qinba mountainous area in a more synergy way.