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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Has Green Credit Promoted High-Quality
Economic Development? Evidence from China
1
Institute of Food and Strategic Reserves, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210000, China
2
School of Business, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453000, China
Submission date: 2023-12-15
Final revision date: 2024-02-03
Acceptance date: 2024-02-29
Online publication date: 2024-07-23
Publication date: 2025-01-02
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(1):463-474
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The government and academic community have widespread concerns about how China utilizes
financial resources to direct credit allocation and achieve high-quality economic development, especially
under the dual pressures of resource constraints and environmental challenges. Analyzing panel data
from 30 Chinese provinces from 2008 to 2020, this paper constructs evaluation indicators of high-quality
economic development and aims to explore the impact of green credit on such development. The study
concludes that green credit significantly contributes to high-quality economic development. This effect
varies based on regional location, bank competition levels, the development quality of intermediary
organizations, and local government debt pressure. In terms of mechanisms, the advancement of green
technology, industrial structure upgrading, and energy consumption structure adjustment emerge as key
transmission mechanisms. The findings underscore the importance of actively promoting green credit,
steadily increasing green finance initiatives, and skillfully directing capital flows toward resourceand
technology-efficient, environmentally-friendly businesses. This approach is essential to accelerate
the shift in the economic development model and foster the growth of a green economy.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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