Abstract: In the construction of “digital China”, security has gradually become a critical safeguard for advancing the digital economy. Using the provincial panel data from 2011 to 2021, this study constructs a digital economy security index for China; employing the geometric mean of the entropy weight-coefficient of variation method, it measures the level of digital economy security; through Dagum Gini coefficients, Kernel density estimation, and spatial Markov chains, the study systematically examines the development level and dynamic evolution mechanisms of China’s digital economy security. The findings reveal: (1) Among the five dimensions—infrastructure development, factor circulation environment, economic resilience, green low-carbon development, and risk monitoring—the green low-carbon development index consistently maintains a high level, showing a fluctuating upward trend, and its risk monitoring index remains the lowest; (2) China’s overall digital economy security level exhibits a “steady rise-fluctuating decline” trend, with eastern regions outperforming the national average and central/western regions, and significant disparities existing among regional security levels; (3) China’s digital economy security development demonstrates relative stability, with a low probability of cross-level transitions between consecutive years. These results highlight regional disparities and evolutionary trends in China’s digital economy security. To promote high-quality regional economic development and enhance digital economy security, effective measures should be adopted: improving the digital economy security system and optimizing the data factor circulation environment; establishing interconnected digital security frameworks to narrow regional developmental gaps; and leveraging spatial spillover effects to strengthen regional risk monitoring.

Key words: digital economy, level of security, measurement, spatial evolution, Dagum Gini Coefficient, Kernel Density Estimation, Spatial Markov Chain