Bridging or widening? The impact of the Broadband China policy on urban-rural income inequality

Bing He, Guoqi Nan, Da Xu, Jun Sun · 2025 · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

Summary. China's Broadband policy expanded rural internet infrastructure but paradoxically widened the urban-rural income gap between 2011 and 2021. The policy's effects varied by region based on local conditions. Innovation, entrepreneurship, digital finance, and information industry growth mediated the policy's impact on inequality. Complementary policies helped reduce the widening effect, suggesting that broadband expansion alone requires coordinated policy support tailored to local development levels.

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He, B., Nan, G., Xu, D., & Sun, J.. (2025). Bridging or widening? The impact of the Broadband China policy on urban-rural income inequality. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04875-z

@article{he-2025-bridging-widening-impact-broadband-china,
  title   = {Bridging or widening? The impact of the Broadband China policy on urban-rural income inequality},
  author  = {Bing He and Guoqi Nan and Da Xu and Jun Sun},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1057/s41599-025-04875-z},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04875-z}
}

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AU  - Guoqi Nan
AU  - Da Xu
AU  - Jun Sun
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
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DO  - 10.1057/s41599-025-04875-z
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Details

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04875-z
Countries: China
Regions: Asia
Categories: broadband-and-digital, policy, regional-innovation-systems
Added: 2026-04-28