Agricultural productivity in China is a fundamental driver of food security and economic growth. Yet, the sector faces profound challenges due to environmental degradation and climate change, which threaten sustainable agricultural practices. This research examines the effects of technological innovations on agricultural Total Factor Productivity and environmental sustainability in China from 2012 to 2022. The study seeks to understand how technological advancements, when considered alongside socioeconomic variables, impact agricultural output while balancing ecological integrity. Employing a comprehensive methodological framework, this research integrates fixed-effects, random-effects, and multilevel mixed-effects models to analyze crucial factors including rural education, technological capability, and environmental conservation initiatives. The study further utilizes structural equation modeling to evaluate both the direct and indirect effects of these determinants on productivity. The results demonstrate that technological innovations substantially enhance agricultural productivity, particularly in provinces with higher socioeconomic development. Additionally, sustainable farming practices and tailored policy interventions are identified as vital in addressing regional productivity imbalances. The research concludes by underscoring the necessity for the continued integration of environmental considerations and emerging technologies to ensure the sustainability of agricultural growth in the long term.

This study examines the relationship between sustainable financing and financial risk management of Chinese financial institutions, using data from Chinese banks. Financial risk management is a comprehensive measure of operating performance, asset quality and capital adequacy ratio. The structural vector auto-regression model determines the relationship between two variables. The positive shock of sustainable financing business negatively impacts the financial risk management of banks. In contrast, positive shock of banks’ financial risk management positively affects sustainable financing. Further subdivision of the sample revealed that sustainable financing does not always negatively impact the financial risk management of large state-owned banks. However, the positive shock of financial risk management reduces urban banks’ green credit proportions. The results are consistent whenever compared between the empirical outcome of the entire sample and the sample consisting of national joint stock bank accounts. This comparison helps eliminate the possibility of a biased outcome as a major portion of the sample is from a national joint-stock bank account. Apart from data limitations, the results of the sub-sample test are influenced due to the difference in deposit and loan interest rates, as well as different ownership structures of banks.