In the process of industrial structure transformation from polluting to cleanerization,environmental regulation plays an important role as an important part of the bankruptcy mechanism.277 prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2020 were selected as research samples.Using panel and threshold models,it was verified that environmental regulation can force resources to flow ra-tionally between industries,thereby promoting the evolution of industrial structure towards cleanness.Moreover,the role of envi-ronmental regulation in industrial structure upgrading shows heterogeneity in stages,and this impact is a double threshold change,showing a trend of"diminishing marginal returns".At this time,when the stamina of industrial structure upgrading is insuffi-cient,technology can play a role in promoting environmental regulation to cross the threshold.The research conclusions have cer-tain implications for how to make full use of the role of environmental regulation and technology to promote the upgrading of indus-trial structure towards cleanness.