Research On The Impact Of The Digital Economy On The Quality Of China’s Ecological Environment

A good ecological environment is an inherent requirement for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation,a priority area for the well-being of people’s livelihoods and an important foundation for building a beautiful China.With the implementation of a series of ecological protection measures,the ecological environment has improved significantly,but it is also important to realize that there are still structural,root and trend pressures on ecological environmental protection,and that there is still a long way to go.As the core of the new industrial revolution,the digital economy has not only given strength to China’s economic development,but has also become a breakthrough for China to achieve green transformation and improve the quality of the ecological environment,and the green value of the digital economy is increasingly prominent.Based on domestic and international research results and theoretical foundations such as sustainable development and public goods theory,this paper reviews the current status of research on the digital economy and ecological environment quality,and establishes an evaluation system for indicators of the digital economy and ecological environment quality in China,using Chinese provincial panel data from2011 to 2020 as the research object.In addition,ecological environment quality and digital economy development level are respectively selected as the explanatory and explanatory variables,and foreign trade dependency,fiscal expenditure decentralisation,foreign direct investment and fixed asset investment are selected as control variables to verify the direct influence mechanism of digital economy on ecological environment quality;and further,industrial structure upgrading,green technological innovation and human capital are used as mediating variables to examine the influence of digital economy on the mediating transmission mechanism of eco-environmental quality,the following conclusions were drawn:Firstly,the evaluation of the development level of digital economy shows that during the period 2011-2020,the national and provinces(municipalities 、 districts)digital economy development level has increased,with Guangdong and Beijing in the national leading ranks,while Guizhou,Hainan,Anhui,Sichuan,Shandong,Hubei,Hunan,Yunnan,Hebei,Jiangxi,Shanxi,Tianjin,Guangdong,Chongqing,Xinjiang and Jilin have an average annual growth rate higher than the national average value.However,the disparity in the level of development of the digital economy among provinces is still evident.In terms of the spatial pattern,the regions with a high level of digital economy development are mainly concentrated in the more economically developed regions,and gradually expand from the eastern coast to the central and western inland regions,with the average value of the four major regions showing an overall regional pattern of eastern region>whole country>central region>northeastern region>western region.Secondly,the evaluation of the ecological environmental quality level shows that during the period 2011-2020,the national ecological environmental quality gradually improves,but the ecological environmental quality level of all provinces(municipalities 、 regions)shows a certain volatility,with most provinces(municipalities、regions)showing a positive average annual growth rate and an overall fluctuating upward trend,while the ecological environmental quality level of Tianjin and Ningxia shows an overall decreasing the average annual growth rates of Tianjin and Ningxia are both negative.In terms of spatial pattern,the overall ecological environment quality level shows certain signs of spatial clustering,with regions with higher ecological environment quality levels mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal and southwestern regions with better ecological resource endowments,and the average values of the four major regions show an overall regional pattern of eastern region>central region>whole country>northeastern region>western region,with the average annual growth rate showing a trend of central region>western region>whole country>northeastern country>eastern region.Thirdly,the benchmark regression analysis shows that the development of digital economy can greatly promote the improvement of ecological environment quality,after robustness testing,heterogeneity testing,and endogeneity testing,there has been no significant change in the magnitude and significance of the impact of the digital economy on ecological environment quality;Specifically,heterogeneity testing shows that there is significant regional heterogeneity in the promotion of digital economy on ecological environment quality,manifested as the characteristics of northeastern region>central region>western region>eastern region.However,the impact of digital economy on ecological environment quality in northeast region is not significant;Furthermore,there is a certain heterogeneity in the promotion effect of digital economy sub dimensional indicators on ecological environment quality,manifested as the decreasing impact of digital infrastructure,digital environment,and digital industry on ecological environment quality;Finally,dependence on foreign trade,foreign direct investment and fixed assets investment inhibit the improvement of ecological environment quality,while fiscal expenditure decentralization promotes the improvement of ecological environment quality.Fourth,the mesomeric effect test shows that digital economy can promote the improvement of ecological environment quality by promoting the upgrading of industrial structure,promoting green technology innovation and improving the level of human capital.Among them,the indirect effect coefficient of digital economy promoting the improvement of ecological environment quality through industrial structure upgrading is 0.0459,and the ratio of indirect effect to direct effect is99.3940%;The indirect effect coefficient of digital economy promoting ecological environment quality improvement through green technology innovation is 0.0424,and the ratio of indirect effect to direct effect is 85.1630%;The indirect effect coefficient of digital economy promoting the improvement of ecological environment quality through human capital is 0.0226,and the ratio of indirect effect to direct effect is32.5247%.Based on the existing literature,theoretical analysis,current situation assessment and empirical results,the following recommendations are made: firstly,promote the development of the digital economy and strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure to provide new momentum for improving the quality of the ecological environment;secondly,based on the differences in regional development,formulate differentiated strategies for promoting the digital economy,so as to fully release the ecological improvement potential of the digital economy;finally,promote industrial structure upgrading,green technological innovation and human capital development to realise the positive role of industrial structure upgrading,green technological innovation and human capital in the digital economy in improving the quality of the ecological environment.