The Mediating Role of Green Innovation in the Relationship Between ESG and Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-996-4_6How to use a DOI?

Keywords

ESG; Small and Medium-sized Enterprises; Manufacturing Enterprises

Abstract

Chinese manufacturing enterprises, as one of the significant boosters of national economic growth contributors, regarding as the key elements for future development of sustainability. In recent years, China’s manufacturing transformation and the Dual Carbon goals (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance is increasingly becoming a crucial indicator for measuring corporate sustainability, and research related to green innovation remains unclear. Referring to environmentally sustainable technological and managerial innovations that enhance resource efficiency and reduce pollution, thereby improving a firm’s corporate performance in both financial and non-financial dimensions. However, research on the relationship between ESG and corporate performance still lacks consistent conclusions, especially the mediating role of green innovation which has not been fully elaborated. This paper, based on the Resource-Based View and Stakeholder Theory, explores how ESG practices of Chinese manufacturing enterprises influence performance through green innovation. The study indicates that green innovation not only reduces compliance costs and resource consumption but also enhances market competitiveness and corporate reputation, thereby promoting the improvement of both financial and non-financial performance. Simultaneously, large enterprises are more inclined to view ESG as a strategic opportunity, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often adopt passive compliance due to financial and technological constraints. External regulation, social expectations, and corporate governance capability are confirmed as important factors affecting the effectiveness of green innovation. The contribution of this study lies in revealing the role of green innovation in the relationship between ESG and performance and providing practical insights for manufacturing enterprises to achieve sustainable development under policy pressure and market demand.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Lelong Zhong
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/15
TI  - The Mediating Role of Green Innovation in the Relationship Between ESG and Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 7th Management Science Informatization and Economic Innovation Development Conference (MSIEID 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 45
EP  - 65
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-996-4_6
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-996-4_6
ID  - Zhong2026
ER  -