Middle Neoproterozoic geotectonic characteristics and proto-basin types in the western part of South China have aroused much controversy and are important implications for determining the position of the Yangtze Continent within the Rodinia configuration. A debris composition analysis of 33 sandstone samples from the Qingshuijiang Formation in the middle part of the Xiajiang Group suggests that these clastic deposits were derived from a recycled orogenic belt. Geochemical features detected by the normal element analysis further indicate that the Xiajiang Group was developed in a retro-arc rift basin. Based on the above conclusions in combination with the geotectonic features of the Yanbian Group and the Suxiong Formation, it is held that the western part of South China was a component part of an active continental margin during the deposition of the Xiajiang Group.