Financial technology, as a form of financial innovation driven by digital technology, serves as a new engine for the intelligent transformation and high-quality development of the manufacturing industry. This paper takes the development of financial technology as a starting point and the strategic goal of intelligent transformation in the manufacturing industry as a foundation to elucidate the mechanism of financial technology driving the application of industrial robots and evaluate its effectiveness. The results of the benchmark regression analysis indicate that the improvement in regional financial technology levels leads to a significant enhancement in the quality of the manufacturing industry. Robustness tests and instrumental variable methods further confirm the stability of these results. Mechanism testing results reveal that the level of financing constraints faced by companies positively moderates the relationship between the level of financial technology and the application of industrial robots, in tandem with the process of marketization. Heterogeneity analysis further highlights that the promoting effect of regional financial technology development levels on the application level of industrial robots is more pronounced in technology-intensive, non-state-owned, high internal control quality, and eastern region enterprises. The research findings provide theoretical logic and empirical evidence for understanding how financial technology empowers high-quality development in manufacturing, offering new insights and avenues for accelerating the path towards "Made in China."