Along with the contradiction between economic growth and resource depletion, the concept of economic development has changed to " innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing”. The concept of green development focuses on the ecological environment, low-carbon development and the construction of green economic system. Under the background of green development, to guide the green upgrading of traditional industries and cultivate new green industries is the key to the restructuring of current industrial structure in China. However, how green credit acts on the upgrading of the industrial structure and its impact are still lacking systematic analysis. This paper reviews domestic and foreign literature to understand the main directions and progress of the research related to the optimization of green credit and industrial structure. And based on the current situation of green credit adjustment in China, this paper analyzes the impact of green credit on industrial structure upgrading by combing three mechanisms: capital formation, signal transmission, and feedback & credit generation. The relevant data is selected from 2004 to 2015 in China and 31 provinces and cities. Firstly, the relationship between the development of green credit and the upgrading of industrial structure is analyzed empirically through the gray relational analysis method, that is, China’s green credit can indeed optimize the industrial structure. Followed by the regression model of panel data, it makes the regression analysis and comparative analysis of the effect of regional green credit on the adjustment of industrial structure in Eastern China, Central China and Western China.
The conclusions are as follows: firstly, green credit affects the industrial structure mainly through the capital and capital channels of enterprises; secondly, the current situation in China shows that there is a relationship between green credit and the optimization of industrial structure; thirdly, the overall green credit adjustment of industrial structure in China has a significant effect on the upgrading of industrial structure; fourthly, the impact of green credit in the three major regions on the adjustment of industrial structure is different, and the positive effects of green credit on industrial structure adjustment in the eastern and western regions are more obvious than that in the central region. In our opinion, in the process of green transformation to promote industrial development, we should give full play to the role of governments, financial enterprises and real enterprises, adjust the credit structure based on the market orientation, rationally allocate green credit funds, promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure, and pay attention to the regional balance; at the same time, it is necessary to improve the connection between policy issuance and policy implementation and promote the effective role of green credit in the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure.