Path to sustainable development: Can industrial intelligence and technological innovation balance economic growth and environmental quality in China?

Abstract Intelligent industrial transformation and technological innovation fuel China's sustainable development. We examine whether industrial intelligence and technological innovation improve economic growth and environmental quality using provincial data from China from 2006 to 2020. We used panel co‐integration techniques (fully modified OLS and dynamic OLS) for analysis. The results showed that industrial intelligence drives economic growth and environmental quality, whereas technological innovation primarily promotes economic growth. We also found that green technological innovation improves economic growth and environmental quality. The Granger causality technique based on the vector error‐correction model showed a strong interrelationship among industrial intelligence, technological innovation, economic growth, and environmental quality. Furthermore, a heterogeneity analysis shows that the effects and interrelationships of the variables of interest vary significantly by region in China. To achieve sustainable development, the government should accelerate the transformation of industrial intelligence, invest in environment‐friendly technological innovation activities, and focus on the co‐development of industrial intelligence, technological innovation, economic growth, and environmental quality.