How Digital-Real Integration Drives the Development of New-Quality Industries

Abstract

The deep convergence between the digital economy and the real economy has increasingly emerged as the core driver of high-quality economic development. Amid the efforts to develop new-quality productive forces, new-quality industries are experiencing rapid growth. Using panel data covering 198 prefecture‑level cities in China over the period 2010–2024, this paper empirically explores the impact and underlying mechanism of digital‑real integration on the advancement of new‑quality industries. The results demonstrate that digital‑real integration exerts a significantly positive stimulative effect on the growth of new‑quality industries, and this conclusion holds steady after multiple robustness checks. Further mechanism tests suggest that digital patent innovation acts as a mediating variable in the linkage between digital‑real integration and new‑quality industry development. Specifically, digital‑real integration enhances the dynamism of digital patent creation, while the technological upgrading and commercialization of digital patents further fuel the expansion of new‑quality industries. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotional impact of digital‑real integration is more pronounced in eastern China and regions southeast of the Hu Huanyong Line. This study enriches the academic literature on digital‑real integration and new‑quality productive forces, and offers meaningful references for policy design to advance digital‑real integration and foster the growth of new‑quality industries.