Digital inclusive finance (DIF) plays an active role in preventing poverty-stricken groups from returning to poverty and reducing poverty. This paper empirically tests the impact of DIF on rural poverty alleviation using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020 as a sample. It employs multiple linear regression, mediation effect models, and threshold effect models. The results show that: (1) DIF and its three sub-indicators (coverage breadth, depth of use, and digitalization degree) have significant poverty reduction effects, and the findings hold even when endogeneity is taken into account; (2) a study of regional heterogeneity found that DIF and its sub-indices, coverage and depth of use in the eastern region, have the greatest effect on the poverty alleviation of rural residents, and the effects in the central and western regions have the least effect; (3) the mediation effect test found that DIF could indirectly promote poverty alleviation in rural areas by promoting regional economic growth and narrowing the urban-rural income gap. The Sobel test shows that the mediating effect of regional economic growth is greater than the mediating effect of the urban-rural income gap; (4) it is found through the threshold effect test that regional economic growth has a double threshold effect on rural poverty alleviation, and as the threshold value continues to increase, the poverty reduction effect increases in turn. Therefore, this paper puts forward policy suggestions for the aspects of accelerating the development of DIF in rural areas, implementing regionally differentiated poverty reduction strategies according to local conditions, promoting regional economic growth, and narrowing the urban-rural income gap.

As an emerging product of the coupling of digital technique and traditional finance, digital inclusive finance (DIF) may play a vital role in alleviating the contradiction between economic growth and environmental contamination. This paper utilises the panel data from various provinces in China as a sample to empirically test the effect of DIF on industrial pollution. The study found that (1) DIF and its sub-dimension coverage (DIF_B) and depth of use (DIF_D) have significant governance effects on industrial pollution, and the conclusion remains valid even when endogeneity is considered; (2) the mediation effect test found that the upgrading of the industrial structure and the degree of technological innovation are important transmission paths for DIF to reduce industrial pollution; (3) the heterogeneity test found that the effect of DIF on industrial pollution control successively showed a pattern of weakening in the centre, eastern, and western regions, while the treatment effect of DIF on industrial wastewater is better than that of industrial waste gas, and the effect on industrial solid pollutant emissions has a U-shaped non-linear relation that is first suppressed and then promoted; (4) the threshold effect test found that DIF, DIF_B, and DIF_D all have a double threshold effect on industrial pollution. Based on the empirical outcomes, this paper proposes measures to improve the development mechanism of DIF, formulate differentiated monetary support and oversight policies under local conditions, and build and enhance the supervision mechanism of the digital financial industry and prevent systemic risks.