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Improved confinement caused by Ne injection is investigated in EAST. The safety factor q profile and electron-scale turbulence are studied with a polarimeter-interferometer system and CO _2 laser collective scattering system in a series of Ne injection experiments in EAST. Ne with a suitable injection rate can lead to negative magnetic shear in the plasma core, which promotes electron-scale turbulence suppression. The continuous injection of Ne under the reversed shear condition further reduces the electron-scale turbulence intensity. Core electron temperature increase and confinement improvement are observed. QuaLiKiz is applied to model the influence of an impurity and reversed q on turbulence. The combination of stabilization effects of negative magnetic shear and Ne on turbulence is much stronger than the impurity’s own effect, which could explain the experimentally observed electron temperature ( T _e ) increase and turbulence suppression. Besides, the relationship between pedestal structure induced by Ne injection and lower hybrid wave (LHW)-driven current deposition is discussed. These results provide a new perspective to improve the confinement in the case of Ne injection, i.e. to adjust the Ne injection to modify the ideal plasma equilibrium.