Abstract: Based on the theoretical mechanism of "institutional pressure-organizational response", this study takes 30 provincial governments in China as cases and uses the qualitative comparative analysis method to explore the causal mechanism and driving path of regional environmental performance. The findings are as follows: First, no single factor can constitute a necessary or sufficient condition for high-level environmental performance. There are four categories of conditional configurations that constitute the driving paths to achieve high levels of environmental performance. Second, the effective combination of the factors from both institutional pressures and government response can improve environmental performance in the way that "all paths lead to the same goal". Third, substitutions and synergies between formal and informal institutional pressures, and the matching relationship between institutional pressure and local government response illustrate the linkage matching model for achieving high environmental performance. The conclusions of this study are helpful in deepening the rational understanding of the nature of complex interactions between multiple factors behind regional environmental performance and provide useful practical inspiration for local governments' environmental governance.