Abstract: The coexistence of high-speed economic growth and insufficient innovation drive in the process of China′s economic development has always been a key topic for studying the Chinese economy. This paper used the urban panel data from 2003-2018 to explain this phenomenon from the perspective of economic growth target setting through multiple linear regression analysis. The study found that: (1) Economic growth target and topdown amplification significantly inhibit the improvement of regional innovation, while it shows a significant inhibitory effect on substantive innovation and a significant promoting effect on strategic innovation patents from the perspective of innovation classification; (2) Further analysis showed that economic growth target and innovation levels exhibit a U-shaped nonlinear characteristic, and substantive innovation also conforms to this characteristic, while strategic innovation on the contrary exhibits an inverted U-shaped characteristic; (3) The analysis of mechanisms indicated that economic growth targets and top-down amplification mainly suppress the improvement of urban innovation level by increasing the city′s land fiscal dependence and reducing the intensity of environmental regulations; (4) In the expansion analysis, through considering the characteristics of officials, it was found that the effects of economic growth target and top-down amplification are more significant in samples with longer official tenure and during the period of official turnover. The expansion analysis which considers market conditions found that the role of economic growth target and top-down amplification is more significant in regions with low levels of marketization and high levels of market segmentation. This paper has broadened the scope of research on the negative externalities associated with economic growth objectives and the influencing factors of urban innovation. It will aid in better understanding the influence of government growth target and official characteristics on urban innovation, thereby offering empirical evidence and policy insights to boost the driving force of economic innovation.

Key words: economic growth target, top-down amplification, urban innovation, nonlinear characteristics