Government innovation subsidies are of great significance to the development of new quality productive forces of enterprises. Selecting A-share non-financial listed companies from 2011 to 2022 as the research sample, a two-way fixed fixed-effects model was used to assess the effect of government innovation subsidies on the new quality productive forces of enterprises. It is found that government innovation subsidies significantly promote the development level of firms' new quality productive forces, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. Further research finds that ex ante subsidies have a more significant effect on firms' new quality productive forces than ex-post subsidies. The analysis of the mechanism of action shows that government innovation subsidies can stimulate the willingness of enterprises to "want to develop", enhance the ability of enterprises to "know how to develop", and encourage enterprises to "dare to develop", and then promote the development of new quality productive forces of enterprises. Promote the development of new quality productive forces of enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis shows that government innovation subsidies have a more obvious effect on the promotion of new quality productive forces of enterprises in the eastern region, mature enterprises and enterprises in strategic emerging industries. Further research finds that government innovation subsidies can improve management's digital innovation attention and digital technology innovation performance. It enriches the study on the economic consequences of government innovation subsidy policy and deepens the study on the internal logic of the development of new quality productive forces of enterprises.