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Objectives To examine the association between friendly community environments and depressive symptoms among older adults in China and to investigate the potential mediating roles of happiness and confidence in this association.Design A nationally representative longitudinal study employing the parallel mediation model to estimate the direct association. Bootstrapping procedures were employed to test the hypothesised mediating effects.Setting The China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) database, a nationally representative survey.Participants The analytical sample comprised 3182 individuals aged 60 years or older from the CFPS 2016, 2018 and 2020 waves.Outcome measures Depressive symptoms were measured using an eight-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Higher scores indicated more depressive symptoms. Friendly community environment, happiness and confidence were assessed using corresponding survey items.Results The analysis revealed a significant direct negative association was observed between friendly community environments and depressive symptoms (β=−0.062, 95% CI −0.092 to −0.035, p<0.001). This effect was significantly mediated by increased happiness (indirect effect=−0.025, 95% CI −0.036 to −0.017, p<0.001) and increased confidence (indirect effect=−0.036, 95% CI −0.048 to −0.026, p<0.001). The urban-rural heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the research findings remain robust across both urban and rural subsamples.Conclusion Friendly community environments are negatively associated with depressive symptoms among older adults in China, primarily by enhancing happiness and confidence in life. To promote healthy ageing, it is crucial to create comfortable, clean and convenient community environments tailored to the older adult population.