Theoretical Mechanism and Statistical Measurement of Integrated Development Between the Digital Economy and Modern Finance: Empirical Evidence from China

Advancing the deep integration of the digital economy and modern finance is a core strategic pathway for fostering new-quality productive forces and building a modern financial system. Scientifically evaluating the level of integrated development between the two systems and clarifying its spatial evolution patterns are of great practical significance for promoting coordinated regional development and the transformation and upgrading of the financial system. Taking the integrated development of the digital economy and modern finance in China as the research subject, this paper elaborates on the mechanisms of their bidirectional integration and identifies the development level, spatial patterns, and dynamic evolution laws of such integration. Based on panel data of 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China from 2011 to 2024, this paper conducts empirical analysis using the Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) Model, Dagum Gini Coefficient Decomposition, Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and Spatial Markov Chain, and constructs an evaluation index system for their integrated development across four dimensions: Basic Service Integration, Innovation Momentum and Efficiency Integration, Industrial Governance Integration, and Application Scenario and Openness Integration. The research finds that the level of integrated development of China’s digital economy and modern finance has improved steadily, but remains in the primary development stage overall. Spatially, it presents a gradient pattern of “eastern leadership, central catch-up, western lagging”. Dimensionally, it features a “three strong, one weak” structural pattern, with the lag in Industrial Governance Integration being the core bottleneck restricting overall upgrading. The integrated development exhibits significant characteristics of path dependence, club convergence, and positive spatial association. This paper breaks through the perspective limitation of traditional research that focuses on unidirectional technology empowerment. The research conclusions can provide decision-making references for advancing regional integrated upgrading in a targeted manner, addressing the bottleneck of industrial governance integration, and facilitating coordinated regional development.