Impact of Rural Digital Economy Development on Rural Revitalisation—Evidence from China

Abstract

Comprehensively promoting rural revitalisation is an important task for China so asto build a strong agricultural country in the new era; industrial revitalisation is the top priority of rural revitalisation, and the rural digital economy is an important driving force to achieve rural revitalisation. Based on data on the development level of the rural digital economy and the development level of rural revitalisation in 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2020, the impact of rural digital economy development on rural revitalisation was empirically analysed using a two-way fixed effects model. The results show that the level of rural digital economy development in all Chinese provinces has a positive impact on the level of rural revitalisation development. At the same time, the level of economic development, urbanisation rate, degree of openness to the outside world, demographic structure, and rural assets are all inputs that have a significant positive impact on the level of development of rural revitalisation. In order to promote the development of rural revitalisation, it is proposed to build a rural digital infrastructure and promote the construction of digital villages, combining the actual situation of each place, guiding the layout of rural industries in accordance with local conditions, and further giving play to the positive effects om the level of rural economic development. This paper also considers policy recommendations for fostering a rural digital workforce to fulfil the important role of human capital.