Can Agricultural Credit Promote the Green Transformation of China’s Agriculture?

The key to sustainable agricultural development is the transition to an environmentally friendly economic growth model. The development of agricultural credit (AC) plays an important role in promoting the shift of agricultural economic growth toward a green and low-carbon direction. In this context, a key question that needs to be addressed is the theoretical basis for how AC development affects agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP), and whether this relationship can be empirically tested. This article analyzes the impact mechanism of China’s AC development on AGTFP and conducts empirical testing using provincial panel data from 2009 to 2019. The results show that AC development significantly contributes to improving AGTFP. In terms of the underlying mechanism, AC development primarily fosters agricultural green technology innovation, thereby enhancing AGTFP.