即便如此，...依然...
Reach for 即便如此...依然... when you've just laid out a serious obstacle and want to insist that something keeps going anyway — 'even so, ... still ...' It's a formal, written-leaning concession + persistence pattern used heavily in news commentary and analytical writing. 即便如此 sums up everything bad you just said; 依然 keeps the subject doing exactly what it was doing despite all of it.
Structure
[OBSTACLE / BAD CONTEXT]。即便如此，[SUBJECT] 依然 [ACTION / STATE]
jíbiàn rúcǐ, ... yīrán...
How to Think About It
即便如此 is a packing-up word — it bundles everything you just said into a single 'this.' Then 依然 is the surprise turn: the subject refuses to react to that bundle. The pair works because each side is doing a job — one packs the obstacle, the other holds the line. Replace 依然 with 还 and the tone gets colloquial; replace 即便如此 with 但 and you lose the formal weight.
Examples
今年订单减少了一半。即便如此，工厂依然没有停。
Jīnnián dìngdān jiǎnshǎo le yíbàn. Jíbiàn rúcǐ, gōngchǎng yīrán méiyǒu tíng.
Orders dropped by half this year. Even so, the factory still hasn't stopped.
外面下着大雨。即便如此，他依然按时到了。
Wàimiàn xià zhe dà yǔ. Jíbiàn rúcǐ, tā yīrán ànshí dào le.
It was pouring outside. Even so, he still arrived on time.
票价上涨了很多。即便如此，年轻人依然抢着买。
Piàojià shàngzhǎng le hěn duō. Jíbiàn rúcǐ, niánqīng rén yīrán qiǎng zhe mǎi.
Ticket prices have risen a lot. Even so, young people are still rushing to buy them.
Common Mistake
Learners drop 依然 and put a plain statement in the second half. Without 依然 (or a synonym like 仍然 / 还是), the contrast collapses — the sentence just reads as a new topic instead of persistence against odds.
工厂遇到很多困难。即便如此，他们工作。
工厂遇到很多困难。即便如此，他们依然在工作。
Don't Confuse With
虽然...但是...
虽然...但是... is the everyday 'although... but...' Use 即便如此...依然... when the obstacle was already laid out in a previous sentence.
尽管...还是...
尽管...还是... attaches the concession inside the same sentence. 即便如此 looks backward at the previous sentence(s) as the concession.
即便...也...
即便...也... opens with a hypothetical concession ('even if X, still Y'). 即便如此 doesn't hypothesize — it refers to the real situation you just described.
Practice
Fill in the blank: 今年订单减少了一半。___ 如此，工厂依然没有停。
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即便
Fill in the blank: 即便如此，工厂 ___ 没有停。
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依然
Arrange: 即便如此，/ 没有 / 工厂 / 停 / 依然 / 。
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即便如此，工厂依然没有停。
Translate to Chinese: It was pouring outside. Even so, he still arrived on time.
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外面下着大雨。即便如此，他依然按时到了。
Write two sentences using 即便如此...依然... about a difficulty in your industry.
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今年的市场不好。即便如此，我们依然在投资新产品。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: