Can the Belt and Road Initiative improve corporate environmental performance?

With the continued promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), corporate environmental management (CEP) has gradually become a topic of interest in all sectors of society in China. In this article, panel data for A-share listed enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2010 to 2020 are chosen in order to explore the influence of the BRI on CEP and its mechanism. By using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method, we discover that CEP has truly improved, by the BRI. This improvement is more significant in SOEs, non-highly polluting enterprises, companies with low financing constraints, and enterprises with weak rent-seeking motivation. The mechanism test shows that the BRI can improve CEP mainly through a pressure effect and an incentive effect.