ESG分别代表企业的环境、社会责任和公司治理三个方面，在ESG投资和管理日益风靡的当下，ESG已成为世界各国重点关注对象。近年来，我国政府提出了建设生态文明和可持续发展的重要战略目标，这对企业的ESG表现提出了更高的要求。同时，我国的资本市场也逐步引入了ESG指数和ESG评级等工具，以促进ESG投资的发展。企业绩效是指一段会计期间内，企业在生产经营过程中所创造出的经济效益，其通常被用于衡量企业是否保持着健康的运营状况。在此背景下，研究ESG表现与企业绩效关系不仅有助于我国企业应对在可持续发展道路上的挑战与机遇，也为其在国际舞台上树立良好形象、提升竞争力提供了重要参考。由于国内关于ESG的研究刚刚起步，且探讨债务融资成本对ESG表现和企业绩效之间关系作用的研究较少，因此本文引入债务融资成本为中介变量，弥补了当下研究的不足。

首先，本文对ESG表现、企业绩效以及债务融资成本等核心概念进行了内涵界定，并探讨了本研究赖以依据的理论基础。其次，通过对上市公司ESG表现、企业绩效以及债务融资成本三者关系进行机理分析，本文提出了三大研究假设，选取2013年~2022年A股上市公司十年间的数据为样本进行实证研究，分析ESG表现对企业绩效的影响、ESG表现对债务融资成本的影响以及在ESG表现和企业绩效之间债务融资成本是否存在中介作用。研究结果表明：ESG表现与企业绩效具有显著的正相关关系，与债务融资成本显著负相关，且债务融资成本在ESG表现和企业绩效中起到部分中介作用。此外，通过进一步分析企业的污染异质性和产权异质性，发现ESG表现在非污染企业和非国有企业中的价值效应更为显著。最后，本文基于实证研究结果，为助力企业实现长期可持续发展，提升企业绩效提出了参考性的政策建议。

ESG represents the environmental protection, social responsibility, and corporate governance of a company. In the context of increasing attention to ESG investment and management, ESG has become a key focus of attention for countries around the world. In recent years, the Chinese government has put forward the strategic goals of building an ecological civilization and sustainable development, which imposes higher requirements on the ESG performance of enterprises. Simultaneously, China's capital markets have gradually introduced ESG indices and ratings to promote the development of ESG investment. Corporate performance refers to the economic benefits created by a company during its production and operation process during an accounting period, which is usually used to measure whether the company maintains a healthy operating condition. In this context, studying the relationship between ESG performance and corporate performance not only helps Chinese enterprises respond to challenges and opportunities in sustainable development but also provides important references for establishing a positive image and enhancing competitiveness on the international stage. Given the nascent stage of ESG research domestically and the limited exploration of the role of debt financing costs in the relationship between ESG performance and corporate performance, this paper introduces debt financing costs as a mediating variable to address current research gaps.

Firstly, this paper defines the specific connotations of ESG performance, corporate performance, and debt financing costs, and explores theoretical foundations such as stakeholder theory, signaling theory, information asymmetry theory, and sustainable development theory. Secondly, through a mechanistic analysis of the relationship between ESG performance, corporate performance, and debt financing costs of listed companies, this paper proposes three research hypotheses. Using data from A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022 as samples for empirical research, the paper analyzes the impact of ESG performance on corporate performance and the mediating role of debt financing costs between the two. The research results indicate: There is a significant positive correlation between ESG performance and corporate performance, indicating that superior ESG performance is predictive of stronger corporate performance, and ESG performance is significantly negatively correlated with debt financing costs. Besides, debt financing costs partially mediate between the two. Furthermore, further analysis reveals that the value effects of ESG performance are more significant in non-state-owned and non-polluting enterprises. Finally, based on the empirical research results, this paper proposes practical policy recommendations to assist enterprises in achieving long-term sustainable development and improving corporate performance.