Drivers of carbon emission transfer in China—An analysis of international trade from 2004 to 2011

Abstract

Currently, studies on global industrial carbon emissions focus more on emissions from finished products. However, the emissions resulting from intermediate products are significantly increasing every year. This study analyzes the intermediate carbon emission transfer effort of 140 countries/regions in the global production network based on data from the Global Trade Analysis Project database. Since China is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, we further analyze China's carbon transfer from the regional and sectoral perspectives. To this end, we use the structural decomposition analysis method to divide the factors influencing China's emission transfer into five parts: emission intensity, export per capita, export structure, population, and production structure. The results show that the net inflow of emissions in China results from the trade process between China and developed regions, including regions in North America and Western Europe, particularly in the sectors of mechanical and electronic equipment and chemical, rubber, and plastic products. Further, the main destinations of China's emission outflow are Latin America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the mineral, oil, and oilseed sectors. Moreover, emission intensity plays a crucial role in emission reduction, and production structure reversals negatively affect the growth of embodied emission. Finally, our analysis suggests that China should optimize its trade structure and promote low-carbon-emission technology.