Abstract: Against the backdrop of the digital intelligence era, digital technology is transforming from a policy implementation tool to a comprehensive enabler of governance. Digital literacy is of great significance for enhancing governance effectiveness, improving the collaborative governance capabilities of governance entities, and achieving modernization of governance. Based on the social exchange theory, through statistical analysis of 447 villagers questionnaires in China, this study explored the impact of village cadres digital literacy on village governance performance, as well as the mediating role of villagers digital governance participation and the moderating role of village cadres leadership.The results showed that: (1) Village cadres digital literacy had a positive impact on village governance performance; (2) Villagers digital governance participation played a mediating role between village cadres digital literacy and village governance performance; (3) Village cadres leadership positively moderated the relationship between village cadres digital literacy and village governance performance, the relationship between village cadres digital literacy and villagers digital governance participation, and at the same time positively regulated the indirect effect of village cadres digital literacy on village governance performance through villagers digital governance participation. Based on this, grassroots levels should enhance the village cadres’ digital literacy, activate new forces in digital governance, forge leadership in the new era for village cadres, effectively improve rural governance performance, and advance the modernization of rural governance.