The impact of the digital economy on new industrial-agricultural and urban–rural relations

The construction of new industrial-agricultural and urban–rural relations (IAUR) with coordinated development and shared prosperity is an inevitable requirement of the Chinese path to modernization. Based on the panel data of 275 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2012 to 2023, we empirically verify the mechanism and spatial effects of the DE on the development of IAUR. The results show that: Firstly, the DE can effectively promote the development of IAUR, but there is a heterogeneous effect among cities with different geographic locations, administrative grades, and levels of development of the DE. Secondly, the promotional effect of DE on IAUR exhibits a non-linear pattern of increasing marginal returns, with digital financial inclusion (DFI) and the digital divide (DDI) serving as dual thresholds. Thirdly, the spatial spillover characteristics of the DE on the development of IAUR are obvious. Based on the above, policy recommendations are put forward, such as the widespread application of the DE, exploring differentiated development paths according to local conditions, and strengthening regional synergy and cooperation.