The Empowerment of Digital Economy to Outward Foreign Direct Investment of China

As globalization accelerates, China's OFDI affected by the digital economy is becoming more extensive and deeper. This study utilizes panel data for 31 provinces in China from 2011 to 2022 to explore how the digital economy is driving China's OFDI while also examining the driving mechanism behind it. The research shows that China's OFDI has been significantly and positively impacted by the digital economy, and this conclusion remains true even after passing the robustness test. Mechanism analysis demonstrates the digital economy uses human capital to support China's OFDI indirectly. According to heterogeneity analysis, the advancement of OFDI in the digital economy is more prominent in the central and western regions in comparison to the eastern region.