Digital Finance and the Carbon Challenge: Do Chinese Listed Companies Benefit?

Drawing on a panel of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2023, this study investigates the impact of digital finance on firms’ carbon emissions. The results indicate that the development of digital finance significantly reduces corporate carbon emission intensity, with this inhibitory effect becoming more pronounced alongside improvements in coverage breadth, usage depth, and the degree of digitalization. The mechanism analysis further reveals that digital finance contributes to emission reduction by relaxing financing constraints and fostering green technological innovation, thereby facilitating firms’ low-carbon transition through capital allocation and technology upgrading. The emission-reducing effect is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises, high-carbon firms, firms with greater media attention, and firms located in regions with less developed financial markets. Further analyses indicate that digital finance also enhances firms’ supply chain stability and mitigates corporate greenwashing, suggesting that its environmental effects extend beyond emission reduction and generate broader real economic benefits. These findings suggest that digital finance functions beyond inclusive financial services, serving as a market-oriented mechanism that enables firms to alleviate financial frictions and advance substantive low-carbon transformation.