The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Driving FinTech and Green Innovation for Green Finance: Evidence from China

Although the world has begun to reduce emissions, it is still at an early stage; green finance aims to direct more funds towards environmentally friendly enterprises, but at present, high friction, information asymmetry and weak risk assessment mechanisms have limited the full effect of this initiative. Given the above situation, this paper will examine in detail how artificial intelligence (AI) is promoting the development of green finance in China. As one of the pillars of the construction of a green-finance ecosystem, both FinTech and green innovation are needed; therefore, this paper will explore how artificial intelligence can advance the development of the ecosystem through all kinds of means. A group of A-share listed companies in China and a provincial green finance index from 2013 to 2023 were taken as the data sources for the strong and endogeneity tests and heterogeneity analysis in this paper. Based on the above experiments, artificial intelligence can boost the development of green finance and at the same time promote FinTech and green innovation. The two mediators have weakened the direct effect of AI on green finance; therefore, it can be considered that there is a partial dual-mediator path. According to the analysis of differences, it can be seen that artificial intelligence has a stronger impact in the eastern and central regions of manufacturing and high-tech industries. Therefore, it can be concluded that AI and FinTech are jointly promoting the development of green finance in this paper.