Abstract: Green credit policy is an important means of achieving carbon neutrality and high-quality economic development through the allocation of financial resources. This paper divides green technology innovation into substantive innovation and strategic innovation, and uses the difference in differences method to test the impact of green credit policies on substantive green innovation before and after the implementation of the 2012 Green Credit Guidelines as well as and the mechanism underlying the impact. The research results are as follows. (1) Green credit policies promote substantial innovation in enterprises and improve the quality of green patents, but inhibit the increase in the number of green patents. (2) Green credit policies significantly promote substantive green innovation by increasing research and development investment and alleviating financing constraints; Meanwhile, increasing R&D investment can alleviate to some extent the inhibitory effect of green credit policies on strategic green innovation. In addition, there exists a chain intermediary mechanism of “green credit → financing constraints → R&D investment → substantive green innovation”. (3) The analysis of enterprise heterogeneity shows that state-owned enterprises are more inclined towards strategic innovation; From the perspective of enterprise emissions, enterprises at different levels of pollution have the same impact on substantive green innovation; Labor-intensive and capital intensive enterprises respond significantly to green credit policies across different industries and their response promotes substantial green innovation.

Key words: green credit policy, green technology innovation, substantial innovation, R&D investment, financing constraints