Sustainable Digital Rural Development: Measurements, Dynamic Evolutions, and Regional Disparities—A Case Study of China

Ming Lei, Xinyu Yang (), Shuifeng Hong, Dandan Wang, Wei Zhang and Hui Chen
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Ming Lei: College of Urban Construction, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China
Xinyu Yang: College of Urban Construction, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China
Shuifeng Hong: College of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Dandan Wang: Financial Affairs Department, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China
Wei Zhang: Infrastructure Department, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi 445000, China
Hui Chen: College of Urban Construction, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-31

Abstract: Amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), China’s digital village initiative has emerged as a localized implementation for achieving multidimensional sustainability. However, the progress of digital villages in China remains uneven, posing challenges to achieving sustainable rural transformation. This study develops a multidimensional index system at four levels: rural digital infrastructure, the digital development environment in rural areas, the digital industry in rural areas, and agricultural production digitalization. Entropy weighting was used to evaluate digital village progress across 30 Chinese provinces (2013–2022). Kernel density estimation, the Dagum Gini coefficient, and the obstacle degree model were used to study China’s spatiotemporal dynamics, regional disparities, and digital village development barriers. The results show that between 2013 and 2022, digital villages in China advanced (the average annual growth rate: 9.43%), with a spatial distribution pattern of “east superior, west inferior, south prosperous, and north declining”. National and regional digital villages have advanced yearly, with absolute and relative disparities increasing, extensibility increasing, and multi-polarizing rising. Digital village development is becoming increasingly imbalanced, with inter-regional differences driving “east, central, and west” disparity and intra-regional disparities driving North–South disparity. Ranking the average hurdle levels: the digital industry in rural areas (45.94%) > the digital development environment in rural areas (24.83%) > rural digital infrastructure (21.85%) > agricultural production digitalization (7.38%). Taobao villages are a major restraint on China’s digital village development.

Keywords: sustainable rural development; rural revitalization; digital village development index; spatiotemporal distribution; regional difference; decomposition; obstacle degree model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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