Abstract: This paper uses the provincial panel data from 2004 to 2015 to theoretically and empirically analyze the mechanism of environmental regulation to promote economic growth from the perspective of industrial upgrading. In view of the different environmental regulation intensity in the eastern, central and western regions, the driving path of economic growth is either because of the rationalization of the industrial structure or because of the advanced industrial structure, the combination of mediation effect model and cross-effect model found that environmental regulation plays a direct role in economic growth, and environmental regulation in the eastern and western regions plays a positive role in promoting economic growth. Environmental regulation has a restraining effect on economic growth. From the analysis of the mediation effect model, environmental regulation affects economic growth through industrial structure upgrading, and the significant level of industrial structure upgrading and industrial structure rationalization is the same; cross-effect model for regional analysis It is obvious that the cross-effects of environmental regulation and industrial structure are positive for economic growth. There is no regional difference, but the impact of the cross-effect of environmental regulation and industrial structure rationalization on economic growth exists the difference of the regional economic development endowment, Inhibition occurs in the central region, other regions are promoting.