Digital financial inclusion, rural consumption and economic growth in China

Abstract In recent years, the continuous development of China's digital inclusive finance has provided favorable conditions for improving the consumption level of domestic residents and stimulating national economic growth. Based on the theory of financial development and deepening, this paper studies the mechanism and effect of digital inclusive finance on rural residents’ consumption and economic growth. The results show that (1) the development of digital inclusive finance can directly promote economic growth. Specifically, the breadth of coverage, the depth of use and the degree of digitization of digital inclusive finance all contribute to economic growth. (2) Digital inclusive finance significantly promotes rural residents’ consumption, and rural residents’ consumption significantly promotes economic growth, that is, digital inclusive finance can indirectly promote economic growth by promoting rural residents’ consumption. (3) When digital inclusive finance is at different levels of development, rural residents’ consumption has different effects on economic growth. The higher the development level of digital inclusive finance, the better the promotion effect of rural residents’ consumption on economic growth. Therefore, we should continue to promote the development of digital inclusive finance, give full play to the inclusiveness and convenience of digital inclusive finance, and contribute to the promotion of rural residents’ consumption and economic growth.