Under the policy background of the “dual carbon” goal, practicing the concept of sustainable development has become the common requirement of the whole society. As an important green financing tool, green bonds can reduce financing costs and enhance enterprise value. However, issuing green bonds may also be a speculative strategic tool for “greenwashing” behavior. Based on the panel data of Ashare listed companies from 2014 to 2022, this paper uses the PSMDID method to explore the impact of issuing green bonds on corporate ESG performance. The study finds that issuing green bonds can significantly improve corporate ESG performance, and this effect has dynamic continuity. Mechanism tests show that issuing green bonds can promote the positive improvement of corporate ESG performance by alleviating financing constraints, inspiring green innovation, and attracting analyst attention. For nonheavily polluting industries, enterprises with executives without overseas backgrounds, located in eastern regions, and stateowned enterprises included in the lowcarbon pilot list, issuing green bonds has a more significant promoting effect on their ESG performance.