Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

 

1. Despite the relevance of the paper´s objective, in my opinion, the research design is not clearly presented. The paper has structural failures, particularly in terms of clarity in defining the degree of innovation and scientific/theoretical soundness but also in terms of structure. In my opinion, these structural failures make the paper both very confusing and difficult to understand.
2. In particular, the introduction section should provide more background information about what has already been done in the literature using the same methodology, supported by relevant and recent references. I would therefore recommend that the introduction section could be improved, namely by outlining the main findings and conclusions of recent research and how it relates to the present work, and by adding a paragraph to highlight the originality and added value of the study. It should also give better support for the methodological option adopted in this study.
3. Section 3.1 requires a more in-depth identification, characterization and analysis of the variables used in the study. It is recommended to add a table with a summary of the identification, definition and data source of all variables included in the model.
4. The analysis of the empirical results requires more solid theoretical foundation and in-depth discussion. The mechanisms behind the results and its relation to the relevant literature should be clearly laid out. The discussion of results should also be further elaborated.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This is highly valuable paper which tackles integration of digital economy and energy sector in China.  The topic is not only relevant for China but all other economies around the world.  I have the following suggestions for authors.

1) It would be helpful to flesh out more details about how global developments may affect the ability of China to integrate digital economy with energy production and consumption. Particularly as you point out in your introduction that "The digital economy is a key component of the global economy". How does technological decoupling affect the digitalization of energy sector in China? Does China have access to all key technologies needed for such transformation? What are implications for climate policies? Are there any cybersecurity risks to be considered?

2) Your literature review and theoretical background are very China-centric. I suggest to include literature which also tackles the same issues in different countries as it might also offer relevant takeaways for China. For instance, Amy Myers Jaffe from Columbia University and Tufts University has written an entire book on this topic: Energy's Digital Future: Harnessing Innovation for American Resilience and National Security

3) Your hypotheses are very vaguely stated. Hypothesis has to be worded as if....then statements, i.e. If energy sector is digitalized further, then development of a grand domestic cycle of energy is enhanced. 

Hypothesis 1: The digital economy can significantly contribute to the formation and development of a "grand domestic cycle" of energy. What does significant contribution imply here? How do you know that contribution is significant?

Hypothesis 2: The digital economy affects the "domestic circulation" of energy by 232 increasing energy production, disposable income, energy transport efficiency and energy consumption. There are many different areas listed here. It would make sense to have one hypotheses about consumption, one about production and so on. How do you reject or fail to reject hypothesis if the effect is on 2 of them or three on them?

Your theoretical section ends with listing the hypothesis 2. You should offer summary in the end of section. 

3) Please discuss limitations of your study. You have a paragraph in the end but it must be clearer. 

4) What are policy implications and suggestions of your study? Particularly, in the current context of regulatory crackdown of digital economy by Chinese government. Will these new regulation affect digitalization of energy sector?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Detailed Response to the Editor and Referees

Title: The Digital Economy and the Energy "Internal Circulation": Evidence from China's Interprovincial Energy Trade

Manuscript Number: sustainability-2006866

Dear Editor,

We really appreciate your response concerning the submission of this paper to Sustainability. We also would like to express great appreciation to you and the referees for these constructive comments. We have thoughtfully taken into these comments. The explanations of what we have changed in response to the referees’ concerns are given point by point. We hope that all these changes fulfill your requirements as well as the referees’. Thank you very much again for your attention to our paper.

For your guidance, itemized responses to referee’s comments are appended below.

1. Overall 

Firstly, we are thankful to the editor and referee for the highly constructive comments and valuable suggestions, which have been considered in this revision. Secondly, we correct our typing errors and do our best effort on exposition in the earlier version of our manuscript. The changes that we have made to the manuscript are summarized as follows:

(1) All of the comments of the referee have been positively taken into account.

(2) We have carefully edited the wording of the article, solved some editing errors, and made the article more readable.

(3)We have revised the reference part of the paper, and provided sufficient references in the part of theoretical analysis and mechanism construction, which provided sufficient references for our research.

(4)We have explained the mechanism construction and variable calculation of the empirical part in more detail.

(5)To avoid readers' ignorance of China, we have added a map of China to this article to help readers better understand this study.

2. Detailed responses 

For the sake of presentation, the comments of the referees are numbered and duplicated in italics, and our responses are given in plain. All changes made to the manuscript are marked in yellow color.

(1) First and foremost, a good edit by a native English speaker to improve the readability by removing unnecessary phrases, making sure the spacing is consistent, the numbering of the tables is correct, and the awkward wording are corrected. I observe few mistakes regarding editing, for example, “isolationism and populism.[1]” line 38. And the author/s should give proper references to the statements in the manuscript. Like, author/s should provide proper reference to the statement written in line 38-41 and 41-44. Because those two statements are the base and from here, they develop their manuscript idea and proper citation is needed.

Responses

Thank you for your careful review of the wording in this article. In terms of the editing of sentences, the differences in our mother tongue have indeed caused the tedious and inappropriate wording in this article. In response to your suggestion to remove unnecessary phrases, we have removed many phrases in this revision, such as "on the other hand", "in order to", etc. In the quotation you raised an editing error, we have amended it, such as "the national economy[1]." In the introduction, we did not provide proper reference. In this revision, we have solved this problem and provided more references.

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

In April 2022, The State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Market, which clearly pointed out that the construction of a uni-fied national energy market should support economic development and ensure energy security. The energy security strategy based on the energy "internal circu-lation" has become the basic support and internal requirement for promoting Chi-na's economic development [2].

Most scholars believe that the segmentation of energy market significantly inhibits the free flow and efficient agglomeration of energy, leading to information asymmetry and unreasonable inter-regional resource allocation [2][3]. In addition, some scholars have found that energy market segmentation will inhibit energy ef-ficiency, green development and industrial upgrading [4][5][6]. Therefore, as early as 2015, the EU officially launched the construction process of energy Union to strengthen the interconnection and interaction of the internal energy market and promote the circulation within the energy zone.

The corresponding added references in this section are as follows:

Ding Junfa, The strategic significance of "Connecting production, distribution, circulation and consumption",https://h5.drcnet.com.cn/docview.aspx?chnid=268&docid=6321768&leafid=932&version=finance

1. Epifani, G. Gancia，Trade, markup heterogeneity and misallocations，J. Int. Econ., 83 (1) (2011), pp. 1-13
2. Nunnenkamp, R. Schweickert, M. Wiebelt，Distributional effects of FDI: how the interaction of FDI and economic policy affects poor households in Bolivia，Dev. Pol. Rev., 25 (4) (2007), pp. 429-450,

Lin Boqiang, Yao Xin. Optimization of power distribution and integrated energy transportation system. Economic Research,2009,44(06):105-115.

Huang Ying, Wei Chu. Breaking down factor market barriers and building unified energy market. Industrial Eco-nomics Review,2022(05):17-21.

Hong Yong, Zhou Yefu. Market segmentation, technological innovation and energy efficiency. Journal of Harbin University of Commerce (Social Sciences Edition),2022(04):93-104+118.

Duan Wei, Wang Ming, Wu Fuxiang. Energy structure, UHV transmission and the evolution of industrial distribution in China. China Industrial Economics,2022(05):62-80.

Zhang Lin, Lu Daofen, Wei Zhuangyu. Whether digital economy can drive the development of China's technology Market: An Empirical Analysis based on inter-provincial panel data. Science and Technology Progress and Countermeasures :1-10[2022-11-08].

Li Tao, Sha Weihua. The Influence of digital economy on regional total factor Energy efficiency: An analysis of the mediating effect based on market trade. Journal of Finance and Economics, 2002,43(03):120-127.

(2) Rephrase this statement carefully “On the one hand, due to the distribution of total energy resources from north to south, rich in the west and poor in the east, and high in the south and low in the north, strong in the east and weak in the west, the flow of energy is from west to east and from north to south, which directly leads to the market segmentation at the regional level of energy.[7]”. because I notice ambiguity after cross checking with the reference author/s quote. Responses

In order to facilitate readers' reading, we have condensed the literature review of this department and carefully introduced the focus of the author's article.

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

However, at the present stage, there is a market segmentation phenomenon at the regional level of energy in China [7], and inter-regional transmission has always been relied on to ensure stable supply. Meanwhile, state-owned capital monopoly and government energy pricing will also lead to industrial segmentation of the energy market [8]. In addition, the popularization of renewable energy makes the development of energy from centralized to distributed [9], and the intelligent linkage and real-time management of energy flow have become problems that must be solved. In this regard, scholar Lin Boqiang et al.

Wu Jing. Energy market segmentation impact on business productivity research. Hunan normal university, 2021. The DOI: 10.27137 /, dc nki. Ghusu. 2021.000762.

Fang Jianchun, Zhang Yuyan, Wu Wanshan. Research on China's Energy market segmentation and Total factor Energy Efficiency. Science Research Management,

Shuai Zhu et al. The development of energy blockchain and its implications for China's energy sector. Resources Policy, 2020, 66(C) : 101595-101595.

(3) From line 52-57 three different statements stating with “on other hand” why is that. Further, I

noticed one mistake line 57 which is that why author/s wrote “planned coal, and planned coal”

twice? Fix it.

Responses

In this part, we really misused words. As for the modification of this part, we rediscussed this part. The use of " planned coal, and planned coal" twice was the error of the article editing, which has been solved in this revision.

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

However, at the present stage, there is a market segmentation phenomenon at the regional level of energy in China [7], and inter-regional transmission has always been relied on to ensure stable supply. Meanwhile, state-owned capital monopoly and government energy pricing will also lead to industrial segmentation of the energy market [8]. In addition, the popularization of renewable energy makes the development of energy from centralized to distributed [9], and the intelligent linkage and real-time management of energy flow have become problems that must be solved. In this regard, scholar Lin Boqiang et al. pointed out that China's main resources and energy are distributed in inland areas, while the manufacturing in-dustry is concentrated in coastal areas. This reverse distribution pattern of energy resources and demand has led to the formation of trans-regional fossil energy transportation system, and emphasized that as China enters the stage of high-quality development, the energy system with fossil energy supply and transportation as the core needs to be reshaped [10].

(4) again from line 60-62 the author/s used “in addition” three time in three different statements.

For this problem, we deleted "in addtion" and discussed it again in combination with the above suggestion. The revisions made to the manuscript are the same as those suggested in the above article.

(5) after reading each part of the manuscript I feel confused regarding the citation because I don’t get that which citation is for which statement, like, “productivity development.[10]”, “new consumption scenarios.[11]” and so on. This is confusing because if this citation is for the followed statement, then why there is no citation for the later one. Fix it throughout the manuscript.

Responses

Thank you for asking about the article citations. We have re-edited the citations throughout the article, adding more citations and fixing the editing errors in the citations.

(6) from line 112-144 authors are developing a hypothesis but I am surprised that why there is not even a single citation. On which basis author/s are developing hypothesis. Explain that and provide proper references to the statements given in line 112-144, where necessary. Secondly, the hypothesis should be stated as a directional hypothesis (line 143-144). I realize that the authors are not native English speakers but this would be necessary for the readers of this article.

Responses

Thank you for raising our questions about the quotations and statements. We do cause problems for readers due to differences in native language usage. In the revision of this part, we add more references and references to this part, and re-discuss our hypothesis, hoping to solve this problem.

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

2.1. Basic Hypothesis

Digital economy is characterized by high technology and high energy consumption[16][17], which can be used to break through the blocking points of energy production, distribution, exchange and consumption. High energy consumption can effectively release domestic energy demand, which is of great significance for unimpeded energy "internal circulation"[18]. First, the digital economy increases the interaction between distributed end-users such as intelligent buildings, home energy storage and electric vehicles and energy production entities, breaking through the energy circulation blockage caused by information asymmetry and forming a two-way interconnection circulation between supply and demand[19]. Secondly, the application of digital economy improves the interactive ability of energy production management. The collection of energy data in the energy production, supply and circulation chain and the sharing among energy sectors can restrain the oligopoly behavior, break the energy market segmentation caused by the local protection of energy, and promote the energy "internal circulation"[20]. Finally, the energy-intensive nature of the digital economy urgently demands clean and sustainable energy. Therefore, it increases the integration of renewable energy resources and fossil energy, which is of great significance to smooth the "internal circulation" between energy sources[21]. Based on this, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 1:  If energy sector is digitalized further, then development of a “internal circulation” of energy is enhanced.

Zhao, X.; Dong, Y.; Gong, X. The Digital Economy and Carbon Productivity: Evidence at China’s City Level. Sustainability 2022, 14, 10642

Ren, Y.; Zhang, X.; Chen, H. The Impact of New Energy Enterprises’ Digital Transformation on Their Total Factor Productivity: Empirical Evidence from China. Sustainability 2022, 14, 13928.

Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?,Energy Economics,Volume 98,2021,105220

Ma Yue. The impact of digital economy on consumer market: mechanism, performance, problems and countermeasures. Macroeconomic Research,2021(05):81-91.DOI:10.16304/j.cnki.11-3952/f.2021.05.008.

Li Tianyu, Wang Xiaojuan. The digital economy empowers China's "double cycle" strategy: internal logic and realization path. The Economist,2021(05):102-109.DOI:10.16158/j.cnki.51-1312/f.2021.05.012.

Zhang Xiufan,Fan Decheng. Research on digital economy development to empower China's low-carbon economic transformation--an analysis based on the national comprehensive pilot area of big data. Science and Technology Progress and Countermeasures:1-11 [2022-11-11]. http://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/42.1224.G3.20221013.1538.007.html

(7) Regarding estimation methodology, the author/s need to focus on the methodology which they

are going to use instead of creating confusion by mentioning six different methodologies.

Responses

Thank you for raising the problems in our method discussion and introduction. We did not use all the methods and should not have presented all the six methods, causing confusion for readers. In this regard, we have deleted the methods we did not use, and mainly introduced the methods used in this paper in detail, hoping to help readers better understand this research. 

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

The inter-provincial energy trade volume is used to represent the degree of development of China's energy "internal circulation" [31]. The inter-provincial en-ergy trade volume is measured as follows: First, the proportion of coal consumption in China is 67% of the overall energy consumption. To characterize the in-ter-provincial energy flow more comprehensively, the inter-provincial energy flow matrix of rail transportation is obtained by dividing the rail coal transportation volume by the proportion of coal consumption. Secondly, since energy transporta-tion is composed of railroads, roads, pipelines and water transport, referring to the method of Yu Yang for inter-provincial trade flow estimation[32], the friction coef-ficient of energy flow is calculated by using the ratio of rail freight volume to the total freight volume of railroads, roads, pipelines and water transport as the am-plification factor.

Finally, the inter-provincial energy trade volume is calculated according to the gravitational model transport volume estimation method[33].

(8)line 321-322, “The digital economy development scores of each country were calculated based

on the principal factor scores with the variance contribution ratio as the weight.” Here, what does

author/s mean by “country”? is this study based on provincial level or country level.

Responses

Thank you very much for your correction. This part has been modified.

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

Digital economy is a new economic formation with information as the core production factor, information technology as the support, modern information network as the carrier and information technology to provide products or services[40]. Referring to the research on digital economy measurement by Bai[41] and Liu[42], this paper categorizes the digital economy into three dimensions of digital users, information and communication platforms and digital transactions, selecting 13 indicators to measure the level of digital economy development. First, the continuous development of the digital economy has changed people's lifestyles, mainly in three areas: social networks, search engines and mobile Internet. The amount of information generated by people has risen exponentially, laying the foundation for the development of the digital economy. Therefore, cell phone subscribers, mobile Internet subscribers and broadband Internet subscribers are chosen as the basis for measuring the development of the digital economy. [43]Secondly, information and communication platforms drive the digital transformation of industries, and the wide application of ICT can improve the efficiency of enterprises, change the structure of the industrial chain of manufacturing and service industries, gradually lead enterprises to digitalization, form a virtuous cycle of information product supply and enterprise industries, and inject power into the digital economy[44]. Therefore, the length of fiber optic cable, the number of domain names, information transmission, software and technical services employees and software business income, and the total amount of telecommunications business are chosen as the measurement indicators of the foundation of information technology and information development[45]. Finally, the mass development of mobile payments and Internet finance has made digital transactions an important part of overall social consumption[46]. Digital transactions cannot be separated from the portals and computer usage established by enterprises, and the percentage of e-commerce companies can reflect the extensiveness of digital transactions. Meanwhile, e-commerce sales and online retail sales can represent the scale of digital transactions in the province, and the larger the scale, the higher the level of digital economy development. Therefore, This study chose the number of websites owned by enterprises, the usage of computers by enterprises, the share of e-commerce, e-commerce sales and online retail sales to be the digital transaction indicators.

Since there are many evaluation indicators for the development level of digital economy, the extreme difference method is used to standardize the indicators[47]. Considering the existence of zero values, infinitesimal shifts are required after the standardization process, i.e., positive indicator , negative indicator , and standardized value . To avoid the bias caused by subjective factors, the entropy value method is used to determine the indicator weights[48].

Bai Peiwen, Zhang Yun. Digital economy, the decline of demographic dividend and the rights and interests of low-skilled workers. Economic Research Journal, 201,56(05):91-108. (in Chinese)

Liu Jun, Yang Yuanyun, Zhang Sanfeng. Measurement and driving factors of China's digital economy. Shanghai Economic Research,2020(06):81-96.

Li Haijian, Tian Yuexin, Li Wenjie. Internet thinking and traditional enterprise reengineering. China Industrial Economics,2014(10):135-146.

Zhang Xueling, Jiao Yuexia. China's digital economy development index and its application. Zhejiang academy of social sciences, 2017 (04) : 32-40 + 157. DOI: 10.14167 / j.z JSS. 2017.04.005.

Zhao Tao, Zhang Zhi, Liang Shangkun. Digital economy, entrepreneurial activity and high-quality development: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities. Management World,2020,36(10):65-76.

Xie Ping, Liu Haier. ICT, Mobile Payment and e-money . Financial Research,2013(10):1-14. (in Chinese)

Shu Xiaolin, Gao Yingbei, Zhang Yuanxia, et al. A Study on the Coupling relationship and Coordinated Development between Tourism Industry and Eco-civilization City, China Population, Resources and Environment, 2015, 3 (in Chinese).

Lu Jin, Chang Hong, Zhao Shaoping et al. "Evolution Characteristics of the coupling relationship between Energy, Economy and Environment in Shandong Province", Economic Geography, No.9, 2016.

(9) For the calculation of Digital economy development, I feel that they way author/s calculate is

ambiguous because you calculated Digital economy development as index but author/s didn’t

mention anything regarding index. Further, the authors assigned weights without any proper

references.

Responses

Thank you for raising the problems in our discussion on the measurement method of indicators. Our discussion on this part is not clear and detailed enough. In this revision, we have discussed in more detail the significance of each indicator and the way of measurement. In addition, we have made more references to support the academic basis of the index measurement in this paper.

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

Referring to the research on digital economy measurement by Bai[35] and Liu[36], this paper categorizes the digital economy into three dimensions of digital users, information and communication platforms and digital transactions, selecting 13 indicators to measure the level of digital economy development. First, the contin-uous development of the digital economy has changed people's lifestyles, mainly in three areas: social networks, search engines and mobile Internet. The amount of information generated by people has risen exponentially, laying the foundation for the development of the digital economy. Therefore, cell phone subscribers, mobile Internet subscribers and broadband Internet subscribers are chosen as the basis for measuring the development of the digital economy [37]. Secondly, information and communication platforms drive the digital transformation of industries, and the wide application of ICT can improve the efficiency of enterprises, change the structure of the industrial chain of manufacturing and service industries, gradually lead enterprises to digitalization, form a virtuous cycle of information product supply and enterprise industries, and inject power into the digital economy[38]. Therefore, the length of fiber optic cable, the number of domain names, information transmission, software and technical services employees and software business income, and the total amount of telecommunications business are chosen as the measurement indicators of the foundation of information technology and infor-mation development[39]. Finally, the mass development of mobile payments and Internet finance has made digital transactions an important part of overall social consumption[40]. Digital transactions cannot be separated from the portals and computer usage established by enterprises, and the percentage of e-commerce companies can reflect the extensiveness of digital transactions. Meanwhile, e-commerce sales and online retail sales can represent the scale of digital transac-tions in the province, and the larger the scale, the higher the level of digital economy development. Therefore, This study chose the number of websites owned by enterprises, the usage of computers by enterprises, the share of e-commerce, e-commerce sales and online retail sales to be the digital transaction indicators.

The corresponding added references in this section are as follows:

Bai Peiwen, Zhang Yun. Digital economy, the decline of demographic dividend and the rights and interests of low-skilled workers [J]. Economic Research Journal, 201,56(05):91-108. (in Chinese)

Liu Jun, Yang Yuanyun, Zhang Sanfeng. Measurement and driving factors of China's digital economy [J]. Shanghai Economic Research,2020(06):81-96.

Li Haijian, Tian Yuexin, Li Wenjie. Internet thinking and traditional enterprise reengineering [J]. China Industrial Econom-ics,2014(10):135-146.

Zhang Xueling, Jiao Yuexia. China's digital economy development index and its application [J]. Zhejiang academy of social sciences, 2017 (04) : 32-40 + 157. DOI: 10.14167 / j.z JSS. 2017.04.005.

Zhao Tao, Zhang Zhi, Liang Shangkun. Digital economy, entrepreneurial activity and high-quality development: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities [J]. Management World,2020,36(10):65-76.]

Xie Ping, Liu Haier. ICT, Mobile Payment and e-money [J]. Financial Research,2013(10):1-14. (in Chinese)

(10) line 348, Table 1 is descriptive statistics and how can author/s say that table 1 is baseline

regression? Explain. No, explanation for Table 1 is mentioned, Why?

Responses

Thank you for your questions on the table. This was an editing error we made and we have corrected it. 

The added corresponding text in this section is as follows:

Table 2 Descriptive statistics 

 

• Regarding data the author/s mention that 2007-2021 in data section and in conclusion section they mentioned 2007-2020, why is that mismatch? Explain

Responses

Thank you very much for your correction. The time dimension of our data has been updated to 2006-2020 and we are attaching the original data. The reason for this error is that the 2007 Statistical Yearbook actually reports data for 2006. We apologize for this error.

(12) A variable of east coast to western provinces should be added to the analysis. All the economic literature on China shows a discrepancy between these regions. Because the author/s only verbally mentioned east, central and west. So it’s better to include variable of east coast and give explanation with proper evidence.

Responses

Thank you for raising the question that we are not clear about the heterogeneity analysis variables. This problem is caused by our unclear discussion. In the discussion of this paper, our eastern coastal area is equivalent to the classification of the eastern region. Therefore, in this revision, we delete the discussion about the eastern coastal area and use the eastern region uniformly to avoid ambiguity.

(13) I am concerned with the degrees of freedom for these analyses. With a sample size of only

31, the R-squares would tend to be inflated. Please report the R-squares corrected for the limited

sample size.

Responses

Based on your suggestion we have reported the results of R-sq. However, it is worth stating that the sample size of this paper is 870. Because we have estimated the extent of interprovincial energy trade using the gravity model, we need to match each province with thirty provinces, for a total sample size of 870.

(14) Finally, since readers may be unfamiliar with Chinese political geography, A map of China

in appendix identifying the location of the various provinces would be very helpful.

Responses

Thank you for raising this question. We did not consider that readers may not be familiar with China, which may indeed affect readers' understanding of this study. Therefore, in response to your suggestions, we have added a map of China at the end of this article for readers' reference.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The revised manuscript is substantially improved. However, some problems with writing and English persist. Therefore, editing of English language and style is still required.

Author Response

Thank you very much for receiving your comments, we have corrected the problems in writing and English.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

We are very grateful for your review of this article, which has led to a substantial improvement in the quality of the article. Based on your comments we have processed and improved the details of the revised manuscript.

1.Abstract is nicely developed in term of flow and connectivity.

4.Hypothesis are nicely improved and the explanations are satisfactory.

9.Satisfied with estimation methodologies used and especially with eastern, central and western regions inclusions.

Once again, we would like to express our gratitude to you. Because the comments you made on the basis of your careful review of the thesis are the areas where the thesis must be improved. Your guidance of this thesis has led to an effective improvement of its quality.

 

2.Introduction part is improved but still there are few minor changes need to be addressed, such as, in line number 49, I think the authors needs to rewrite citation like [4-6] not [4] [5] [6]. Rest I am satisfied with the improvement in this section.

3.Again, same citation mistake in line number 132. Please properly check in the author/s guideline section and improve accordingly.

5.Line number 160 same citation error.

Thank you for your review, it was indeed a mistake on our part. All citations have been corrected in the revised manuscript. For example:In addition, some scholars have found that energy market segmentation will inhibit energy efficiency, green development, and industrial upgrading [4]-[6].

Digital economy, characterized by high technology and high energy consumption[16]-[17], can be used to break through the blockages in energy production, distribution, exchange, and consumption.

It also makes it possible to use a wide range of renewable energy sources and increase energy production [22]-[24].

 

6.Line 233-235 needs proper citation.

    Based on your comments, we have cited the research paper by Xu Yiting. 

7.In line 260 one you gave citation then why author/s add names?

   Based on your comments, we have removed the author's name.

Referring to the research on digital economy measurement, this paper divides the digital economy into three dimensions: digital users, information and communication platforms, and digital transactions, and selects 13 indicators to measure the development level of the digital economy[44]-[45].

  

8.In line 321 author/s mentioned regarding Tibet data, which as far as I know is easily available. But its okay if author/s didn’t include that data.

    Thank you very much for your review. Data for Tibet are included in the China Statistical Yearbook. However, there is insufficient data on energy trade between other provinces and Tibet. Therefore, the Tibetan region is purposely excluded from this paper.

Once again, thank you for your contribution to this paper and I wish you good health and success in your work.