With the rapid advancement of digital technology, the digital economy has become an important driving force propelling China's economy towards higher levels. Based on panel data from 270 prefecture-level and above cities in China spanning from 2011 to 2021, this study employs empirical analysis to investigate how the digital economy impacts urban-rural integration. The baseline regression results indicate that the digital economy plays a significantly facilitative role in promoting the integration of urban and rural development. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the digital economy has a significant impact on urban-rural integration in southern regions, whereas its effect is insignificant in northern regions. Furthermore, it exerts a substantial promotional effect on urban-rural integration in the top 100 cities ranked by digital economy performance, but suppresses such integration in non-top 100 cities. Through mediation effect analysis, it is found that industrial structure upgrading and human capital enhancement play crucial roles in facilitating urban-rural integration driven by the digital economy. Spatial effect analysis demonstrates that the digital economy not only boosts urban-rural integration within its own region but also positively influences adjacent areas. Therefore, to further advance the process of urban-rural integration in China, strategies could include enhancing the quality and pace of digital economic development, implementing differentiated policies to drive urban-rural integration, advancing industrial structure transformation and upgrading, elevating the level of human capital, and reinforcing inter-regional connectivity and collaboration in the digital economy.
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