## 1 Introduction  
This paper studies the spatial patterns of the digital inequalities in China for an array of information and communication technology (ICT) and internet variables and examines demographic, socioeconomic, and innovation influences on digital inequalities in Chinese provinces. China's population was 1.45 billion in 2022, of whom 1.01 billion are internet users, representing a 70% internet penetration. Chinese internet users represent over one-third of Asia's internet user base. In 2017, China was the world's largest telecommunication market in terms of the number of mobile, fixed-telephone, fixed-broadband, and mobile broadband subscriptions. In addition, it was the world's leading exporter of ICT products in 2021 [1]. With this huge telecom market and expansive base of internet users, internet and e-commerce companies, such as Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, and Bytedance, have become household names not only in China but all over the globe. Driven by the growth of internet and cybertechnologies, these companies have fueled a tremendous growth of e-commerce in China, which is consequently leading to social and economic transformations [2].  
Despite this market size, the adoption and diffusion of ICT within China have consistently shown disparities. A study determined that significant provincial digital disparities exist between eastern and western Chinese provinces as well as between core cities and more peripheral ones [3]. Prior to 2010, university education, urban residential income,and the urbanization rate were shown to be important educational and economic factors influencing the Chinese provincial digital divide. However, since 2010, adult literacy rate and rural residential income were identified to be key determinants of this divide [3]. Similar regional disparities were observed for e-commerce adoption, the key determinants of which were linked to local economic, political, and infrastructural conditions [2].  
This study builds on prior work on the Chinese digital divide that has encompassed a broad array of ICT dependent variables, including ICT use, digital infrastructure, ICT services, and e-commerce. The present research has novel features that address gaps in prior research, including little inclusion of infrastructure factors; absence of analysis of longitudinal change in the correlates of digital divide factors; and lack of investigation of purposeful technology uses in ICT services and e-commerce. This study fills these gaps through more detailed spatial cluster analysis; inclusion of new, previously unreported variables, such as purposeful uses in ICT services and e-commerce; and inclusion of the influence of ethnicity.  
The following research questions are formulated to address these research gaps:  
1. What are the important demographic, economic, education, innovation, and knowledge determinants of digital infrastructure, ICT use, and purposeful uses of ICT in the services and e-commerce sectors?
2. What are the changes in the determinants of ICT and internet factors over the period of 2015 to 2020?
3. What are the spatial cluster patterns of digital inequalities segmented by ICT use, digital infrastructure, ICT services, and e-commerce?  
After addressing the research questions, the study examines the implications of the research findings for national policymaking regarding the internet and ICT in China that could serve to reduce provincial digital inequalities.  
The remainder of this paper is organized into the following sections: literature review, conceptual model of digital inequities, data and methodology, descriptive and regression findings, longitudinal analysis of change, cluster analysis, discussion and implications, and conclusion.