The long-term existence of administrative governance models has led to insufficient internal motivation for green innovation in state-owned enterprises. In the context of deepening mixed ownership reform, will market-oriented non-state-owned shareholders who are given more “discourse power” to the board of directors enhance the driving force of green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises? Based on the data from China’s A-share state-owned listed companies from 2013 to 2020, this paper studies the impact of directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders on green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises. The results indicate that state-owned enterprises with directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders have significantly more green technology innovation, and the higher the proportion of directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders, the more green technology innovation state-owned enterprises have. Further research indicates that directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders can promote green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises by reducing government intervention and improving executive incentives. The level of financing constraints faced by state-owned enterprises will significantly reduce the impact of directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders on green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises. The more government subsidies, the stronger environmental regulations, and the longer tenure of executives, the greater the impact of directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders on green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises. This paper enriches the research on the non-economic consequences of directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders in governance from the perspective of green technology innovation, explains the path and situational factors that directors appointed by non-state-owned shareholders have a positive impact on green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises, and has certain policy reference value for deepening state-owned enterprise reform and improving the economic governance of state-owned enterprises.