Digital Empowerment of Agricultural and Rural Modernization Promoting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization in Suzhou

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jmsd.202612419

Author(s)

Zhouyu Tian*, Yuxia Guo

Affiliation(s)

School of Economics and Management, Suzhou University, Suzhou, Anhui, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

Digital technology, deeply embedded in the entire process of agricultural and rural development, has become a key driving force for comprehensive rural revitalization. This study focuses on Suzhou City in Anhui Province and empirically examines the influence, transmission mechanisms, and threshold characteristics of digital empowerment on the modernization of agriculture and rural areas as well as rural revitalization. The analysis employs an enhanced entropy weight-TOPSIS approach, mediation effect model, and threshold regression model, utilizing panel data from 2023 to 2025. The findings reveal that digital empowerment has a substantial positive impact on the agricultural and rural modernization of Suzhou, with key transmission channels identified as industrial integration (28.7%), factor mobility (24.1%), and inclusive public services (21.3%). Moreover, the empowerment effect displays a dual threshold linked to digital infrastructure, where the coefficient increases significantly from 0.142 to 0.486 upon surpassing the second threshold. Facing practical bottlenecks such as unbalanced county-level development and shortage of digital talents, Suzhou needs to make precise efforts from three dimensions: strengthening digital infrastructure, cultivating digital farmers and deepening industrial integration, providing a path reference for digital-empowered rural revitalization in northern Anhui's major agricultural cities.

Keywords

Digital Empowerment; Agricultural and Rural Modernization; Rural Revitalization; Mediation Effect; Threshold Effect

References

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