Threshold and spillovers effects of fintech on China's energy dependence on fossil fuel

Can fintech leverage technology to empower traditional financial institutions to optimize resource allocation and reshape the conventional resource-driven development model? These questions are imperative to achieve sustainable development and energy transformation. In response, this study conducts an empirical investigation into fintech's implications and regional spillovers on energy dependence from 2013 to 2021. The study unveils that fintech significantly reduces dependence on fossil fuels. Industrial structure and urbanization also positively impact reducing energy dependence. The inhibitory effect of fintech on energy dependence follows a non-linear characteristic. As the level of fintech increases, fossil fuel energy dependence tends to rise and decline afterward. Notably, these effects are heterogeneous, characterized by the higher the level of local energy dependence, the level of state intervention, and the level of financial development, the stronger the degree of its role. There are significant spatial spillovers from the suppression of energy dependence by fintech, manifesting in positive agglomeration. Therefore, fintech should be promoted to empower the financial sector through the application of digital technology to achieve resource conservation and reduce energy dependency.