How WeChat groups enhance political trust in rural China: evidence from the China Rural Revitalization Survey

With the deepening implementation of the “Digital Nation” strategy, WeChat groups, as an emerging digital governance tool, have played a crucial role in the political ecology of rural China. This study utilizes data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS) and employs the ordered probit model to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the intrinsic relationship and influencing mechanism between WeChat groups and political trust in rural China. Furthermore, the study identified the varying impacts of three control variables—education level, age, and region—on political trust. The findings of the study demonstrate that the establishment of WeChat groups has a considerable impact on the political trust of rural residents. Further analysis indicates that WeChat groups significantly enhance rural political trust through three pathways: strengthening rural governance performance, effectively curbing rural corruption, and expanding villagers’ political participation. Moreover, the impact of WeChat groups on political trust varies significantly across different demographic groups. Notably, the influence of rural WeChat groups on villagers with a low level of education, the rural elderly population, and villagers in rural areas of central and western China is particularly evident. Based on the above findings, in the process of promoting rural governance in China, the opportunity of technological embedding should be fully utilized to construct diversified channels for villagers’ political participation. At the same time, education on supervision and anti-corruption should be strengthened, humanistic care of digital governance should be emphasized, and technological inclusiveness of the elderly group should be enhanced in particular. By fully exploring the potential of modern technology and empowering rural political trust, we can build a harmonious, efficient and equitable rural political ecology.