Coordinated development of digital economy and ecological resilience in China: spatial-temporal evolution and convergence

Facilitating the interplay between the digital economy (DE) and ecological resilience (ER) has emerged as a critical strategy for China in its pursuit of sustainable development. This study uses coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, Dagum Gini coefficient, Kernel density estimation, and convergence analysis to examine the CCD between DE and ER in China from 2011 to 2020. Results show that the DE and ER indices exhibit increasing trends, with imbalanced regional development. The CCD scale between DE and ER is improved from primary coordination to moderate coordination, and the gap in CCD between provinces is gradually narrowing. The overall differences in CCD show a downward trend, with eastern-western inter-regional differences being the primary source. The sigma convergence of the eastern and western regions is remarkable, whereas the central region was notable after 2016. The overall and regional CCD show significant beta convergence.