Study On The Effect Of Carbon Emission Reduction In China’s ICT Industry

China attaches great importance to and actively addresses the issue of climate change and is committed to integrating economic growth and environmental protection to achieve green and high-quality development in the new era.In the context of “double carbon” and digitalisation,the ICT industry is an important engine for the gradual decoupling of China’s future development from carbon,providing new momentum to achieve harmonious economic-social-environmental development.The deep integration of ICT and green low-carbon industries effectively promotes the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure from high-carbon to low-carbon and from low-end to high-end.The deep integration and application of ICT industry innovation in the fields of resources,energy and environment can empower the development of China’s low-carbon economic transformation by improving energy use efficiency,optimising industrial and energy structures,promoting technological innovation and alleviating information asymmetry.It is of theoretical and practical significance to study the carbon reduction effect of China’s ICT industry.Based on theories of new economic geography,environmental economics and spatial econometrics,this paper uses panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020 as research samples.Firstly,an evaluation system for the comprehensive development index of China’s provincial ICT industry is constructed and measured using the entropy method.Secondly,a general panel model is used to empirically examine the overall impact of the ICT industry on carbon emission intensity in China and regional differences,and the non-linear relationship between ICT industry and carbon emissions intensity is explored by introducing the squared term of the ICT industry composite development index into the model and fitting scatter plots.Finally,an exploratory spatial data analysis was first used to demonstrate the significant spatial correlation between the ICT industry and carbon emission intensity,and then a spatial econometric model was used to empirically test the spatial spillover effect of the ICT industry on carbon emission intensity.The conclusions of the study are as follows:(1)The ICT industry has a more negative than positive impact on carbon emission intensity,and has a significant inhibiting effect on carbon emission intensity overall.From the perspective of regional differences,the ICT industry has the greatest inhibiting effect on carbon emission intensity in the middle region,followed by the west and the east.(2)The relationship between China’s ICT industry and carbon emission intensity does not exist in an inverted U-shaped curve,but presents a functional relationship with monotonically decreasing characteristics.In particular,when the comprehensive development level of ICT industry is low,the inhibiting effect of ICT industry on carbon emission intensity has a tendency of increasing marginal effect,and when the comprehensive development index of ICT industry is raised to a certain level,the inhibiting effect of ICT industry on carbon emission intensity has a tendency of decreasing marginal effect.(3)China’s carbon emissions intensity shows the characteristics of“high in the north and low in the south”,and the ICT industry shows the gradual decline from the east coast to the interior.ICT industries and carbon emissions intensity are significantly spatially correlated,with the carbon emissions intensity of the region positively influencing the carbon emissions intensity of spatially linked regions.There is a significant spatial spillover effect on the suppression of carbon emissions intensity by ICT industries.The ICT industry will spread out factors that are conducive to energy saving and emission reduction through spillover effects,which will also have a suppressive effect on the carbon intensity of spatially linked areas.According to the study findings,this paper puts forward policy recommendations in four areas: continuing to explore and leverage digital empowerment of the ICT industry,strengthening basic frontier and applicable technology development to enhance digital carbon management and carbon reduction innovation capabilities,improving the ICT industry’s own energy conservation and energy efficiency,and improving the construction of regional synergy mechanisms.These will provide a new perspective and reference paths for China to achieve energy saving and emission reduction,and to develop solutions for carbon peaking and carbon neutral.