Based on the data of 9 provinces in the Yellow River Basin from 2003 to 2022, this paper uses the entropy method to measure the green finance development index and the high-quality economic development index, and examines the effect of green finance in promoting the high-quality economic development of the Yellow River Basin from the perspective of environmental regulation. The empirical results show that: 1) The index of green finance and high-quality economic development in the nine provinces of the Yellow River Basin continues to increase, showing a continuous improvement trend. 2) Green finance can significantly promote the high-quality economic development of the Yellow River Basin, and environmental regulations have a certain weakening effect on it. 3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotion effect of green finance on high-quality economic development in the upper reaches of the Yellow River is more obvious, and the marginal effect of green finance is more significant. In the future, the nine provinces and autonomous regions in the Yellow River Basin should further improve the green finance development system, and promote the high-quality economic development of the Yellow River Basin by coordinating regional development, formulating differentiated financial development policies, and taking into account economic benefits and environmental transactions.

Yellow River Basin, Green Finance, High-quality Economic Development, Environmental Regulation