EVOLUTION AND BARRIERS IN COORDINATING GREEN PRODUCTION AND THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

This study examines the coordination between the digital economy and green production systems for small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) sustainable development under climate governance and digital transformation challenges. Using multi-source data from China (2011–2022), we constructed an evaluation framework combining entropy weight TOPSIS, coupling coordination models, and barrier degree diagnosis to analyze key constraints affecting SMEs’ green growth. Findings reveal that while green production initially drove digital development, emerging obstacles in digital infrastructure and industrial digitalization ultimately reversed coordination progress despite a period of optimization. The analysis identified three critical barriers for SMEs: inadequate digital infrastructure, insufficient industrial digitalization, and weak environmentally friendly production capabilities. We propose a three-stage framework characterized by bidirectional driving, dynamic coordination and barrier breakthrough to enhance SMEs’ green growth. Policy recommendations include digital sovereignty enhancement for small businesses, industrial internet empowerment and digital monitoring-driven green governance mechanisms throughout SME production chains.