Abstract: There are a number of small and medium-sized rivers throughout China, which are the closest to humans. But they are also affected by man-made transformation and production and life activities and show more obvious ecological degradation. Taking the Xuchang section of the Qingyi River as the study area, a mass-balance food web model was established with "Ecopath with Ecosim" according to the data of aquatic organisms collected in the summer and autumn of 2021. The achieved results reveal that the Qingyi River ecosystem mainly consists of five integrated nutrient levels (1.00-3.29), and due to the low transfer efficiency of trophic levels I and II, the energy flow to the higher nutrient level was seriously hindered, and the conversion efficiency of the whole system was only 1.08% and 1.82%. The mixed trophic impacts did not alter in summer and autumn, and predators except Culter alburnus exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on the bait organisms. A comprehensive analysis of multiple indicators, including parameters close to maturity, resilience and stability of the system, indicate that the total flow rates of the Qingyi River ecosystem were 2 571.06 and 1 472.58 t·km^-2 in summer and autumn, respectively, and the size of the ecosystem in summer is greater than that in autumn and Finn′s cycling index (FCI) and Finn′s mean path length (FML) also revealed that the ecosystem maturity and stability in summer were superior to those in autumn. Finally, according to the food web model, three key functional groups at various nutrient levels in the Qingyi River ecosystem have been selected as phytoplanktons, molluscs, and Culter albus, while maintaining the appropriate requirements of key functional habitats and growth habits, the pertinent suggestions for restoring the ecosystem, such as limiting the growth of dominant phytoplankton species, increasing mollusk predator pressure, and restoring the Culter alburnus population are presented. The findings of this study could provide decision-making basis and scientific support for the ecological restoration of the Qingyi River and similar rivers.