ABSTRACT As a core engine for high‐quality economic development, the digital economy's role in boosting the synergy of pollution and carbon emission reduction (SPCR) requires empirical exploration. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces between 2011 and 2020 and employing a dynamic modeling approach, this study empirically examines the impact of the digital economy on SPCR. The results reveal that: (1) China's digital economy has maintained expansion, while the synergy index of pollution and carbon emission (SPC) has trended downward. (2) The digital economy exerts a significant positive effect on SPCR, and the effect exhibits nonlinear characteristics through the threshold model test. (3) The effect displays regional and income heterogeneities, with a more pronounced impact in eastern and high‐income provinces. (4) Mechanism analysis confirms that urbanization, energy structure optimization, and per capita income mediate the nexus of the digital economy on SPCR. To advance SPCR, policymakers should implement differentiated governance to strengthen digital infrastructure, integrate digitalization with energy transition, urbanization, and income growth, and unlock its long‐term synergistic potential by deepening integration with green industries to achieve sustainable development.
Wang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.