Based on digital technology, the digital economy has typical characteristics of high efficiency, greenness, intelligence, innovation, strong penetration and so on, which can promote the sporting goods manufacturing industry (SGMI) to realize the goal of green development. This study selects panel data from 30 provinces in China over the period of 2011 to 2022. And the green total factor productivity of the sporting goods manufacturing industry (SGTFP) is used to reflect the green development of SGMI. The level of digital economy development (DIG) and the SGTFP are measured by using the entropy method and the Super-SBM model with undesirable outputs. Based on the method of coupling coordination degree model, the coordinated development degree of DIG and SGTFP is analyzed first. Then, by making use of the fixed effect model, intermediary effect model and spatial Durbin model, the influence of DIG on the green development of SGMI and its mechanism are empirically studied. The results show that DIG, SGTFP and the degree of their coupling and coordination are generally on the rise. The benchmark regression results show that the coefficient of DIG on SGTFP is 0.213; that is, the digital economy can significantly promote the improvement of green development in SGMI. According to the analysis of the spatial Durbin model, the impact of the digital economy on SGTFP has a certain spatial spillover, that is, the development of digital economy in the region will have a certain promoting effect on the green development of SGMI in the surrounding region. The intermediary effect model analyzes the influence mechanism and finds that the digital economy mainly boosts SGTFP through green innovation technology and energy consumption structure.

Developing “New Quality Productive Forces” (NQPFs) has been accepted as a new theory to accelerate the high-quality development in China. In current, China’s high-quality development mainly relies on the traction of the digital economy. In view of this, developing NQPFs in China’s digital economy sector requires locate and remove some obstacles, such as the insufficient utilization of data, inadequate algorithm regulation, the mismatched supply and demand of regional computing power and the immature market environment. As a solution, it is necessary to allocating data property rights in a market-oriented way, establishing a user-centered algorithm governance system, accelerating the establishment of the national integrated computing network, and maintaining fair competition to optimize the market environment.

This research explores the role of digital economy in driving agricultural development in the BIMSTEC region, which includes Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan (with Bhutan excluded due to data limitations) with a particular focus on mobile technologies, computing capacity and internet connectivity which were the most readily available data points for BIMSTEC. Using a combination of document analysis, and panel data analysis with the data covering 10 years (2012–2021), the study examines the interplay of key digital technologies with agricultural growth while controlling for factors including water usage, fertilizer consumption, and land temperature and agricultural land area. The analysis incorporates additional variables such as infrastructure development, credit to agriculture, investment in agricultural research, and education level. The findings reveal a strong positive correlation between mobile technology, Internet and computing capacity in BIMSTEC. This study underscores that digital tools are pivotal in enhancing agricultural productivity, yet their impact is significantly combined with investment in infrastructure and education. This study suggests that digital solutions, when strategically integrated with broader socio-economic factors can effectively challenges in developing countries, particularly in rural and underserved regions. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on digital economy in agriculture, highlighting how digital technologies can foster agricultural productivity in developing countries.