The digital economy development level and export technology complexity of 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government provinces from 2013 to 2020 are calculated. The results show that the digital economy development level has a significant positive impact on the climbing of manufacturing value chain，and the heterogeneity analysis shows that the digital economy development level has different impacts on the division of manufacturing value chain in different geographical provinces. The impact is more pronounced in central, western and coastal areas. From the perspective of government and enterprises, it is suggested to increase the investment in digital infrastructure in this region, promote the development level of regional digital economy and the transformation and development of digital and intelligent manufacturing industry.