How does the digital economy affect the green development of China’s industry?

Digital economy is an important force to promote industrial green development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of digital economy on China’s industrial green development and its mechanism of action from 2011 to 2019, and further examines the spatial spillover effect of digital economy on industrial green development using the spatial Durbin model (SDM). The results show that the digital economy can significantly promote the improvement of IGTFP, and the development of the digital economy in the region can drive the green development of industry in the peripheral regions through the spatial spillover effect. Green technology innovation has a partial mediating role in the process of digital economy affecting IGTFP. Industries in central cities can gain greater green development from digital economy development relative to industries in peripheral cities. The above findings remain valid after a series of robustness tests.