"Our study focused on counties because they play a crucial role in connecting different elements across the whole digital industry," said Lyu Peng, executive dean of the Institute of Digital China at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Over the past year, Lyu and his team have collaborated with the Ant Group Research Institute to conduct a survey that has identified how digitalization is influencing life in rural China.

"Under China's political structure, the county is an important unit that is home to a complete system of various social elements. The country's rural vitalization process, which aims to consolidate the achievements of poverty eradication, is mainly practiced in counties," he said.

After a year of visiting many counties nationwide, Lyu discovered that traditional socioeconomic boundaries between urban and rural areas have become blurred, while the gap between first-tier cities and county-level regions has narrowed.

He said that, like the rest of the nation, counties as a whole have enjoyed a fast uptake of digital financial services.

"The development of the digital industry has sparked efforts in rural areas, which will further contribute to the boom in new industries and produce more jobs," he said. "In the long run, the rural economy will grow quickly."

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents rose by 21.1 percent last year, compared with the first quarter of 2020. That far surpassed the growth of 15.7 percent among urban residents.

"As China heads toward the goal of 'common prosperity'－or prosperity for most people, in other words－counties will gain more development chances and may even exceed some cities," Lyu said.

He suggested that counties should deepen cooperation with local cities and explore their own unique resources in the digital industry.

In addition to building dedicated infrastructure, Lyu said it will also be important to improve digital literacy in counties and villages so people involved in related industries can take advantage of and benefit from digital financial products and further boost such services in rural areas.

"China is a big country with a large population, and people are the core of our overall development. We should take advantage of our great human resources and stimulate people's creativity to promote greater equality," he said.

?