As countries worldwide are pursuing green development, assessing whether the digital economy as a new economic engine can help us achieve new breakthroughs is of great research value. China, being the largest resource consumer in the world but with a rapidly developing digital economy, can offer us a special view on this question. Using China’s provincial panel data from 2010 to 2020, this study comprehensively measures the development of the digital economy from four dimensions and empirically examines the impact of digital economy development on the green economy based on the super efficiency SBM-GML model. The results show that: first, digital economy development has a significant positive effect on promoting a green economy; second, there are regional differences in both the digital economy and the green economy in China, with the development in the southern region better than that in the northern region; third, the environmental regulation has a double-threshold effect on the relationship that we assessed. The findings in this study highlight the importance of digital economic development in driving the growth of the real economy and are of value to the development of a green economy in the new period.

IMPACT As the world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, debt risks are increasing, as is the pressure to hide debt. The lessons learnt from analysing the progress made by China in controlling hidden debt will be of use to accountants, financial managers and policy-makers in other countries. The authors also make suggestions for the Chinese local and central government going forward.

IMPACT China’s central government has taken a more active and resolute attitude to solve the hidden debt problem, which has achieved positive results. However, the transformation of local government financing platforms is full of uncertainty, therefore the challenges of future implicit debt resolution have still to be met. As many developing countries are facing an increasing debt burden, China’s exploration and experience in defusing local government debt risk may be of use to debt management and debt transparency in other countries.