Does China's digital economy contribute to low-carbon transition?

The digital economy, as a new emerging economic form, has become an important power for realizing Chinese-style modernization and promoting green development in China. This paper measures the digital economy and low-carbon transition index based on the data of 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2020 and analyzes the mechanism and path of the digital economy affecting low-carbon transition using the fixed effect panel data model and the threshold effect model. It is found that,(1) The digital economy and low-carbon transition in China are various in different regions, with characteristics of being unbalanced and insufficient.(2) The digital economy significantly promotes low-carbon transition, with the greatest influence in the Central region, followed by the Eastern region and the Western region. Under different dimensions, the development of informatization and digital transactions promote low-carbon transition, but the development of the internet plays an inhibiting role.(3)The higher the degree of urbanization and environmental regulation, the greater the influence of the digital economy on low-carbon transition.