How Can Digital–Real Integration Affect High-Quality Development of the Regional Economy? Evidence from China

As the digital economy increasingly integrates with the real economy, the goal of high-quality economic development in China has become increasingly clear. Promoting high-quality regional economic development through the integration of the digital and real economies holds significant practical importance for achieving Chinese modernization. This study selects panel data from 2013 to 2023 for 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government in China. It employs the entropy method to measure the development levels of both the digital and real economies in each province. It uses a coupling coordination degree model to gauge their level of integration. By constructing bidirectional fixed-effects models, mediating effect models, and spatial econometric models, this study explores the impact of Digital–real Integration (DRI) on regional High-Quality Development (HQD). The findings reveal that DRI promotes high-quality regional economic development, with a 1% increase in DRI leading to a 4.810% increase in high-quality regional economic development. Meanwhile, this effect exhibits significant regional disparities. During this process, industrial structure upgrading and scientific and technological innovation serve as mediating factors, with coefficients of 1.249 and 10.562, respectively, for every 1% increase in DRI. Moreover, DRI exhibits significant spatial spillover effects, benefiting neighboring regions. Based on these findings, the paper proposes targeted recommendations, including strengthening digital infrastructure to lay a solid foundation for integrated development, implementing an innovation-driven strategy to master core technologies, optimizing production factor allocation to amplify DRI’s driving force, breaking regional economic barriers, and adopting dynamic, differentiated development strategies tailored to local conditions. These measures aim to fully harness DRI’s potential in advancing high-quality regional economic growth, offering empirical insights for coordinated regional development.