IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i11p4838-d1663682.html

Green Finance and Energy Structure Transition: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Wenhua Xu

    (School of Economics and Management, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China)

  • Qixiang Yuan

    (School of Economics and Management, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China)

  • Naixin Chen

    (School of Economics and Management, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China)

  • Jian Ye

    (School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi Teachers College, Yingtan 335000, China)

Abstract

To achieve high-quality development, the Chinese government has proposed the establishment of Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones (GFRIPZs). Green finance enhances environmental governance, guides capital flows, and supports sustainable economic growth. Against the backdrop of the “dual carbon” goals (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality), this study examines whether green finance significantly drives urban energy structure transition and explores its underlying mechanisms. Leveraging the GFRIPZ policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we construct a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to systematically analyze the impact of green finance on energy structure transition. The findings reveal that the GFRIPZ policy significantly accelerates urban energy structure transition, with stronger effects observed in resource-based cities, central and western regions, and cities with higher administrative levels. Green finance drives this transition through the mediating effects of green technological innovation and resource allocation efficiency, while the digital economy further amplifies its positive impact. This study concludes that green finance effectively promotes urban energy structure transition and supports high-quality economic development. These findings provide empirical evidence and policy insights for advancing China’s energy revolution and achieving its climate objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenhua Xu & Qixiang Yuan & Naixin Chen & Jian Ye, 2025. "Green Finance and Energy Structure Transition: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:11:p:4838-:d:1663682
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/11/4838/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/11/4838/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bilal, Muhammad Junaid & Shaheen, Wasim Abbas, 2024. "Towards sustainable development: Investigating the effect of green financial indicators on renewable energy via the mediating variable," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    2. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 772-793, September.
    3. repec:fth:prinin:315 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Zhang, Dayong & Chen, Shi & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson, 2013. "The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2121-2168, October.
    6. Shi, Jinyan & Yu, Conghui & Li, Yanxi & Wang, Tianhe, 2022. "Does green financial policy affect debt-financing cost of heavy-polluting enterprises? An empirical evidence based on Chinese pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    7. Alberto Abadie & Susan Athey & Guido W Imbens & Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "When Should You Adjust Standard Errors for Clustering?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 1-35.
    8. Song, Malin & Du, Juntao, 2024. "Mechanisms for realizing the ecological products value: Green finance intervention and support," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    9. Cao, Qingfeng & Ni, Pengfei & Guo, Jing, 2025. "Broadband internet and income inequality among the floating population: Evidence from the “broadband China” strategy in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Xiaohong Liu, 2023. "Impacts of Environmental Pollution and Digital Economy on the New Energy Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, June.
    11. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    12. Yuchen Yang & Kavan Javanroodi & Vahid M. Nik, 2022. "Climate Change and Renewable Energy Generation in Europe—Long-Term Impact Assessment on Solar and Wind Energy Using High-Resolution Future Climate Data and Considering Climate Uncertainties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Huang, Zhehao & Liao, Gaoke & Li, Zhenghui, 2019. "Loaning scale and government subsidy for promoting green innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 148-156.
    14. Hong Zhang & Jiongpu Jin, 2024. "Assessing the effect of green finance, energy consumption structure and environmental sustainable development: a moderated mediation model," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-27, April.
    15. Yang, Qi-Cheng & Zheng, Mingbo & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Energy policy and green innovation: A quantile investigation into renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 1166-1175.
    16. Liang, Zhidong & Yang, Xiao, 2024. "The impact of green finance on the peer effect of corporate ESG information disclosure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    17. Zhang, Pengfeng & Yu, Yingchi, 2024. "How does regional technological innovation affect energy poverty? The role of industrial structure distortion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    18. Patrik Thollander & Jenny Palm & Johan Hedbrant, 2019. "Energy Efficiency as a Wicked Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-11, March.
    19. Zhang, Zhenhua & Wang, Jing & Feng, Chao & Chen, Xi, 2023. "Do pilot zones for green finance reform and innovation promote energy savings? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    20. Yu, Mengxuan & An, Ping, 2024. "How much financing China needs to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    21. Zhang, Yonghong & Li, Yao & Wu, Hong & Peng, Yinan, 2025. "Evaluating the role of green innovation and global supply chain digitization in natural resource utilization for energy resilience: An empirical evidence from panel quantile regression," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    22. David Card & Alan Krueger, 1993. "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania," Working Papers 694, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    23. Nepal, Rabindra & Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin, 2024. "How does green finance promote renewable energy technology innovation? A quasi-natural experiment perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    24. Cheng, Yuanyuan & Yao, Xin, 2021. "Carbon intensity reduction assessment of renewable energy technology innovation in China: A panel data model with cross-section dependence and slope heterogeneity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    25. Wang, Quan-Jing & Wang, Hai-Jie & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Environmental performance, green finance and green innovation: What's the long-run relationships among variables?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    26. Wang, Moran & Li, Xuerong & Wang, Shouyang, 2021. "Discovering research trends and opportunities of green finance and energy policy: A data-driven scientometric analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    27. Eichner, Thomas & Pethig, Rüdiger, 2014. "International carbon emissions trading and strategic incentives to subsidize green energy," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 469-486.
    28. Umar, Muhammad & Safi, Adnan, 2023. "Do green finance and innovation matter for environmental protection? A case of OECD economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    29. Zhang, Teng & Xu, Zhiwei, 2023. "The informational feedback effect of stock prices on corporate investments: A comparison of new energy firms and traditional energy firms in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    30. Yucai Hu & Shaorui Du & Yukun Wang & Xinya Yang, 2023. "How Does Green Insurance Affect Green Innovation? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-15, August.
    31. Tao, Weiliang & Weng, Shimei & Chen, Xueli & ALHussan, Fawaz Baddar & Song, Malin, 2024. "Artificial intelligence-driven transformations in low-carbon energy structure: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li Chen & Fujia Li & Haonan Zhang & Hao Cheng, 2025. "Can Green Finance Policy Achieve Collaborative Governance of Air Pollution? Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-20, August.
    2. Manal Elhaj & Fatma Mabrouk & Layan Alotaibi, 2025. "Financing the Green Transition: How Green Finance and Renewable Energy Drive CO 2 Mitigation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Magdalena Zioło & Iwona Bąk & Anna Spoz, 2025. "The Nexus Between Green Bonds, Green Credits, and the Energy Transition Toward Renewable Energy Sources: State of the Art," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-21, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ying Fu & Zhaohan Wang & Yun Wang, 2024. "Green Financial Policy for Fostering Green Technological Innovation: The Role of Financing Constraints, Science Expenditure, and Heightened Industrial Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-26, October.
    2. Nepal, Rabindra & Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin, 2024. "How does green finance promote renewable energy technology innovation? A quasi-natural experiment perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Zhao, Wenqi & Toh, Moau Yong & Zhao, Jerry Zhirong, 2025. "Green growth in pilot zones for green finance and innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    4. Christopher Bennett & Brent Evans & Christopher Marsicano, 2021. "Taken for Granted? Effects of Loan-Reduction Initiatives on Student Borrowing, Admission Metrics, and Campus Diversity," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(5), pages 569-599, August.
    5. Ping Lin & Dixin Cai & Qingfeng Geng & Junbing Xu, 2025. "From Green to Gold: the cash management impact of China’s new diversified green finance policy," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Sugata Marjit & Kausik Gupta, 2020. "Inward Looking Policies, Finite Change and Employment - The Capital Reallocation Effect," CESifo Working Paper Series 8730, CESifo.
    7. Luo, Shiyue & Lu, Mingyue & Ye, Jinhui & Guo, Yuying & Hao, Yu, 2025. "Nurturing finance and harvesting intelligence: The green growth of urban industrial intelligence fueled by green finance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Bai, Rui & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Nexus between green finance development and green technological innovation: A potential way to achieve the renewable energy transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    9. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    10. Chen, Di & Hu, Haiqing & Wang, Ning & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2024. "The impact of green finance on transformation to green energy: Evidence from industrial enterprises in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    11. Elodie Andrieu & Malgorzata Kuczera, 2023. "Minimum Wage and Skills -Evidence from Job Vacancy Data," Working Papers 034, The Productivity Institute.
    12. Su, Zhifang & Guo, Qianqian & Lee, Hsiang-Tai, 2022. "Green finance policy and enterprise energy consumption intensity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Yuan, Zihao & Kang, Yongchao, 2024. "Green finance and land ecological security: A potential mechanism for sustainable development," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1222-1241.
    14. Ziyang Chen & Xiao Feng & Ziwen He, 2022. "A Key to Stimulate Green Technology Innovation in China: The Expansion of High-Speed Railways," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Kim, Jinhwan & Shi, Terrence Tianshuo & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2025. "The innovation consequences of judicial efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2).
    16. Jinming Shi & Jia Li & Shuai Jiang & Yingqian Liu & Xiaoyu Yin, 2025. "Does Green Finance Facilitate the Upgrading of Green Export Quality? Evidence from China’s Green Loan Interest Subsidies Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-30, May.
    17. Ravita Kharb & Charu Shri & Pragati Singh & Shabani Bhatia & Neha Saini, 2026. "Modelling the barriers of green financing in achieving environmental sustainability: an analysis using TISM," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 7173-7206, March.
    18. Han, Linzhi & Li, Jiawen, 2025. "Does green finance reform promote corporate carbon emission reduction? Evidence from China's green finance reform and innovation pilot zones," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 2091-2111.
    19. Sugata Marjit & Kausik Gupta, 2023. "Inward‐looking policies, finite change, and employment: The capital reallocation effect," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 19(1), pages 62-76, March.
    20. Daquan Gao & Christina W. Y. Wong & Kee-hung Lai, 2023. "Development of Ecosystem for Corporate Green Innovation: Resource Dependency Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-28, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:11:p:4838-:d:1663682. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.