Abstract: Developing vigorously the technology market is an important part of improving China′s socialist economic system. The digital economy has accelerated the flow of information elements and has an important impact on the transaction activities of the technology market. Based on the panel data at the provincial level in China from 2011 to 2021, this paper employed a two-way fixed-effects model to examine the nonlinear impact of digital economy on the activity of China′s technology market transactions and its operational mechanisms. The results indicated a significant "U-shaped" relationship between digital economy and the activity of technology market transactions, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. Further analyses revealed that the nonlinear relationship between digital economy and the activity of technology market transactions is more pronounced in the eastern region, technology services, and technology development, with the vigorous implementation of digital economy policies strengthening this relationship. Additionally, mechanism tests showed that innovation output plays a partial mediating role between digital economy and technology market transactions, while intellectual property protection has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between digital economy and the activity of technology transactions. The findings of this paper will enrich and expand the nonlinear logic exploration between digital economy and technology market transactions, thus providing a reference for the government to deepen the development of the digital economy and establish a favorable technology market environment in strategizing. 

Key words: digital economy, technology market transaction activity, intellectual property protection, innovation output, nonlinear relationship