Abstract: Digital economy relying on high-tech like the Internet, cloud computing has become a driving force to lead social change, and the booming digital economy has thus been a new engine to drive economic growth. Based on the panel data of 47 countries along the “Belt and Road”, this paper analyzes the impact of digital economy on carbon emission intensity and its internal mechanism, and studies the spatial spillover effect of carbon emission reduction in digital economy. The results of the study show that the development of digital economy bears a significant negative impact on carbon emission intensity, that is, with the improvement of a country's digital economy, its carbon emission intensity tends to decrease; the impact is made through “technological innovation effect”, “trade scale effect” and “trade structure effect”; one country's development of the digital economy takes a significant inhibitory effect on the carbon emission intensity of its neighboring countries, that is, there is available a spatial spillover effect. China, therefore, should strive to promote high-quality development of the digital economy, deeply tap into new drivers of digital trade development, build digital platforms, and actively promote international cooperation in carbon reduction technologies.

Key words: digital economy, carbon intensity, “Belt and Road”, trade mechanisms