Abstract: A comprehensive portrayal of the development and changing trends of the digital economy in China's border areas is not only an inherent requirement for the coordinated promotion of Digital China construction across regions, but also a key component in embedding border area development into the overall Chinese path to modernization. This study considers both national orientation and regional characteristics, constructs an indicator system for the development of the digital economy in border areas, systematically measures the level of digital economy development in border areas from 2011 to 2024, and analyzes the characteristics of spatiotemporal evolution. The study found that: ① The digital economy in the nine border provinces and autonomous regions is showing a growth trend, but there are significant regional differences, with a gradient pattern of "northeast > southwest > northwest"; ② The development of the four subsystems of digital infrastructure, digital industrialization, industrial digitalization, and digital governance is uneven; ③ The spatial center of gravity of the digital economy has undergone phased migration with 2017 as a turning point. This study is helpful for re-examining the geopolitical value and economic and social development characteristics of border areas in the new era, and can provide a reference for exploring differentiated development paths of the digital economy in border areas.

Key words: Digital economy, Digital China；Border regions；Measurement of the digital economy；Spatiotemporal evolution