<p>Entrepreneurship makes a significant contribution to the well-being of every economy. However, the need for sustainable entrepreneurship increases with the increasing issues of environmental degradation, unequal access to opportunities and resources, and wealth gaps. The present study examines the role of digital finance, eco-innovation, recycling and waste management, and youth education in sustainable entrepreneurship in China and Korea over the period 2000 to 2023. After assessing the presence of cross-sectional dependence and non-normality issues in data, the method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) is used to analyse the empirical relationship between dependent and independent variables. The outcomes indicate that eco-innovation, youth education, and recycling and waste management positively impact sustainable entrepreneurship from the 1st to the 8th quantile. However, digital finance has no significant impact on sustainable entrepreneurship. The panel corrected standard error approach validates the outcomes of the MMQR approach. Based on the findings, policies are recommended to policymakers in the countries concerned to promote sustainable entrepreneurship.</p>