Based on panel data of 31 provinces in China, this paper explores the impact mechanism of energy investment on regional growth potential, using HP filtering method, XGBoost regression model, panel data preprocessing techniques, and chain mediating effect test . The results show that there are structural differences in the impact of energy investment: investment in the gas production and supply industry has the largest negative impact, while investments in oil and gas extraction and power supply have positive impacts, and the impacts of coal mining and washing, petroleum processing and coking industries are relatively weak. There is a chain mediating path of "energy investment → secondary i... More >