In the era of the digital economy, digital transformation is the way to the high-quality development of enterprises. The introduction of the QFII system has made QFII shareholding one of the important factors affecting the quality of enterprise development. However, the existing literature on the impact of QFII shareholding on enterprises’ digital transformation is insufficient, especially the lack of relevant empirical evidence. This paper argues that QFII shareholding can enhance enterprises’ awareness of digital transformation, provide long-term capital investment for digital transformation projects, and promote enterprises’ digital transformation through improving investment and financing behavior, optimizing information status, and promoting technological progress. Based on the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2007 to 2020, it is found that: (1) the increase of QFII shareholding can effectively promote the improvement of enterprises’ digital transformation level; (2) QFII shareholding can promote the digital transformation of enterprises by easing financing constraints, reducing financial costs and financial leverage, increasing analyst attention and positive media coverage, and increasing R&D investment; (3) the promotion effect of QFII shareholding on the digital transformation of non-state-owned enterprises is more significant than that of state-owned enterprises, the promotion effect on the digital transformation of high-tech enterprises is more significant than that of non-high-tech enterprises, and the promotion effect on the digital transformation of enterprises in the growth stage, maturity stage and decline stage is decreasing successively; (4) QFII shareholding can promote the quality of enterprise development (improve investment value and main business performance), and digital transformation can also promote the quality of enterprise development (improve investment value and investment efficiency). Moreover, QFII shareholding can improve the impact of digital transformation on the quality of enterprise development (strengthening the positive effect of investment value and efficiency improvement, weakening the negative effect of main business performance reduction), so the digital transformation under QFII shareholding has a significant quality improvement effect; (5) in regions where VC/PE investment and inward investment in innovation and entrepreneurship are less active, QFII shareholdings have a greater role in promoting enterprise digital transformation, indicating that QFII shareholdings have a “complementary” effect in making up for the lack of capital market investment activity in enterprise digital transformation. Compared with existing literature, this paper mainly expands and deepens this study from the following aspects. Firstly, it examines the impact of QFII shareholdings on the digital transformation of enterprises and its path and heterogeneity. Secondly, it provides empirical evidence that QFII shareholding promotes the digital transformation of enterprises. Thirdly, it further discusses the improving effect of digital transformation on enterprise development and the complementing effect of QFII system on the capital market. The research in this paper helps to understand the internal logic of QFI shareholding and the high-quality development of enterprises, and then provides insight into the positive effects of the QFII shareholding system on the high-quality development of China’s economy, so as to facilitate government departments and capital markets to better serve the digital transformation of the real economy.