Digital Economy Empowers Carbon Emission Reduction: The Contribution of Digital Transformation to Carbon Neutrality for Chinese Enterprises

Jiaqi Yan

doi:10.17323/j.jcfr.2073-0438.19.3.2025.42-54

Jiaqi Yan National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0322-2771

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/j.jcfr.2073-0438.19.3.2025.42-54

Keywords: digital economy, carbon emission intensity, corporate digitalization, technology, innovation, chinese evidence

Abstract

In recent years, with the rapid development of technology and the ICT field, enterprises and governments have been accelerating the digitalisation process. However, alongside technological advancements, climate change has become a matter of global concern. As the core participants in economic activities, enterprises play a crucial role in promoting economic development through digital transformation while reducing carbon emissions. Nevertheless, questions remain: Can digital transformation further assist enterprises in reducing carbon emissions, facilitating the realisation of China’s “dual carbon” goals? And are there differences among different types of enterprises? This study employs the fixed effects model to conduct an in-depth analysis of these issues based on listed companies, state-owned enterprises, and large local private enterprises in China over the past decade. The research findings indicate that the digital transformation of enterprises can significantly reduce regional carbon emission intensity. Further study reveals that digital transformation promotes the low-carbon development of regions by driving technological innovation. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of digital transformation is more significant in traditional high-energy enterprises. The innovation and contribution of this paper lie in exploring the effect of enterprise digital transformation on regional energy conservation and emission reduction from a digital perspective. It demonstrates that, in addition to the transition to clean energy, accelerating the digital transformation of enterprises provides another approach to achieving carbon neutrality. It also enriches academic research results in the fields of digital economy, energy conservation and emission reduction.

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