Development of a unified national market, fintech innovation, and the level of industrial chain modernization: Interaction mechanisms and empirical evidence

Against the backdrop of high-quality development, building a unified national market and advancing industrial chain modernization have become core strategies for China's economic transformation and upgrading. Using data for 31 Chinese provinces (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) from 2008 to 2023, this paper examines the interaction mechanisms among unified national market development (UMMD), fintech innovation (FIT), and the level of industrial chain modernization. The results show that UMMD significantly promotes the level of industrial chain modernization; the impact of UMMD on the level of industrial chain modernization varies over time; across regions with different degrees of marketization, UMMD's effect on the level of industrial chain modernization exhibits pronounced heterogeneity;the impact of UMMD on the modernization level of industrial chains exhibits significant heterogeneity across regions with different degrees of openness; FIT plays a moderating role in the relationship between UMMD and the level of industrial chain modernization; and the moderating effect of FIT in this relationship is heterogeneous across regions with different levels of human capital. This study provides empirical evidence for understanding the synergistic mechanisms among the institutional environment, technological empowerment, and industrial upgrading, and offers policy implications for deepening market-oriented reforms, guiding the sound development of fintech, and promoting industrial chain modernization.