Rural digitalization and the formation of new quality productive forces: The enabling role of financial supply

This study examines the relationship between rural digitalization and new quality productive forces (NQPFs), with particular attention to the enabling role of financial supply. Using provincial-level data, we find that rural digitalization is positively associated with the formation of NQPFs. This positive relationship is stronger in regions with greater financial supply, suggesting that favorable financial conditions facilitate the translation of rural digital access and connectivity into higher levels of regional productive capacity. Further analysis identifies rural e-commerce development and information infrastructure upgrading as two potential pathways associated with this relationship. The positive association is also more pronounced in provinces with stronger innovation foundations, greater financial resource concentration, and more advanced digital government development. Overall, the findings suggest that the productivity relevance of rural digitalization depends not only on the expansion of rural digital access and connectivity, but also on the financial and institutional capacity of regions to support their absorption and utilization.