As the second largest economy in the world, China’s economic development is facing the double pressure of cleaner production and structural transformation, and is in urgent need of transformation to a green economy and sustainable development model. The study selects manufacturing enterprises in the context of the green finance reform and innovation pilot zone from 2009 to 2019 as the research object. The sustainable development capability of enterprises is measured by their financial performance and environmental performance, and the double-difference model is used for empirical testing. The results of the study show that the introduction of green financial reform and innovation policies significantly improves the sustainability capability of enterprises. The conclusion remains robust after the parallel trend test and placebo test. In the heterogeneity analysis, it was found that green financial reform and innovation policies have a more significant effect on promoting the sustainable development ability of non-state-owned enterprises and high-tech enterprises. Based on the overall findings, feasible and targeted recommendations are proposed with a view to improving the sustainable development of enterprises.