Abstract: Based on the typical facts of rapid growth of China's R&D investment and slowdown in TFP, this paper seeks to explore the issue of how to solve the dilemma of scientific & technological (S&T) innovation from a new perspective of its synergistic development with human capital accumulation. Firstly, it analyzes the synergistic mechanism of S&T innovation and human capital affecting green TFP, and then the impact of the synergy between S&T innovation and human capital is empirically examined with industrial panel data of China’s Manufacturing. This paper also discusses the differences of synergistic effeccts in different industries. The results show that independent R&D innovation, cooperative R&D innovation and non-R&D innovation have no significant impact on the green TFP solely, but the synergy between S&T innovation and human capital has a significant and positive effect on the green TFP. This suggests that the synergistic development between S&T innovation and human capital is the key to cracking the predicament of S&T innovation, "R&D - productivity paradox" and promoting the high-quality development. The synergistic effect of human capital and S&T innovation differs in different industries, and it is not significant in high-tech industries, which could be related to the higher demand for human capital in high-tech industries. These findings provide theoretical basis and decision reference for the idea of "accelerating the building of industrial system in which real economy, scientific and technological innovation, modern finance, and human resources develop synergistically" and China’s economy transforming into the stage of high-quality development proposed by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

Key words: R&, D - productivity paradox