Impact of Digital Economy on the High-Quality Development of China's Service Trade

High-quality development of service trade (HDST) is becoming increasingly important for China's high-quality development (HD). This builds new development patterns and cultivates new competitive advantages. In the digital economy (DE) era, HDST ushers an important opportunity. The use of DE to promote HDST is the focus of China's current economic development strategy. After theoretical analysis using panel data of 18 sample regions (municipalities, provinces, directly under the central government, and autonomous regions) in China from 2012 to 2021, this study empirically studies the impact and mechanism of DE on HDST. The research results indicate that DE has significantly promoted the HDST in China. Based on its mechanism, the HDST can also be promoted by improving the human capital level. Moreover, compared with the eastern region, DE plays a more significant role in promoting the HDST in the central and western regions. With the opening of the new process of "digital China" construction, DE has played a stronger role in promoting the HDST after 2015. Based on theoretical and empirical analysis, suggestions are put forward to promote the HDST through the development of DE considering three aspects: improve the DE level, promote the coordinated development of regions, and strengthen personnel training, which provides references for relevant departments to formulate policies. For the promotion of HDST in China, this study provides an important reference from the perspective of improving the level of DE.