In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, prompting a need for systematic review and analysis of existing literature to address research limitations and identify future directions. This paper presents a bibliometric and content analysis of 2077 academic works in both Chinese and English languages. Drawing from data sourced from China Knowledge Network and Web of Science databases, this analysis spans the periods of 2012 to 2023 and 2007 to 2023, examining studies from local and global perspectives. Utilizing CiteSpace, the study explores keyword frequency, cluster view, and timeline view to elucidate progress and frontiers in ESG research. Findings reveal four primary themes: “ESG disclosure,” “corporate financial performance,” “ESG investment,” and “corporate sustainable development strategy.” Local literature emphasizes corporate ESG disclosure, while global literature focuses on corporate sustainability from entrepreneurial and investor perspectives. The study’s implications include global trends such as robust information disclosure systems, green finance advancement, ESG practice promotion, and refining stakeholder-corporate sustainable development relationships and ESG performance research. This study uniquely reviews ESG topics from dual perspectives, providing insight into literature evolution, research content, and avenues for future exploration in ESG.