Abstract: This paper examined the impact of the establishment of the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone on the ESG performance of the manufacturing industry by using the difference-in-difference method. This paper used the establishment of the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone approved by the State Council in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment and selected the A-share listed manufacturing enterprises from 2009 to 2022 as samples. The mechanism test shows that the establishment of the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone can help alleviate the financing constraints, improve the profitability and increase the market value of the manufacturing enterprises, and thus have a positive impact on the ESG performance of the enterprises. Further research find that the establishment of the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone has a heterogeneous impact on the ESG performance of the manufacturing enterprises, which is mainly concentrated in the eastern region, higher degree of marketization and non-heavy pollution enterprises. This paper provides a new perspective for improving the ESG performance of enterprises in theory, and provides policy implications for using the green finance policies to enhance the green transformation and sustainable development of enterprises.

Key words: green finance, ESG performance, financing constraints, profitability, market value