Study on the effect of digital trade development on manufacturing carbon emissions

The rapid development of digital trade not only brings unlimited possibilities to business but also has a huge impact on the environment, especially playing an important role under the current dual carbon background. To provide a theoretical basis for giving full play to the carbon reduction of digital trade and promoting the outstanding growth of the manufacturing industry, and enhancing the competitive advantage of manufacturing enterprises, this paper uses the panel data of 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2012 to 2021 to study the impact effect of the development level of digital trade on the carbon emissions of the manufacturing industry, and analyzes the spatial effect between digital trade and the carbon emission intensity of the manufacturing industry. It is found that the development level of digital trade has a nonlinear effect of first promoting and then suppressing the carbon emission intensity of the manufacturing industry, and there is heterogeneity in regions and sub-industries. The improvement of the development level of digital trade has a significant inhibitory effect on the carbon emission intensity of the manufacturing industry in neighboring regions. This might be related to the rapid development of digital trade driving the production efficiency of local manufacturing, the optimal allocation of resources, and the application and promotion of environmental protection technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to actively promote the development of digital trade and enhance the application of digital technology in the field of trade.