Abstract
In this paper, we discuss the possible role of foreign-invested enterprises in the reduction of China's carbon dioxide emissions by employing a time-series of unique input–output tables that distinguishes firm ownership and processing exports. The comparisons of carbon emission intensities indicate that although Chinese-owned enterprises experienced much faster upgrades of emission-intensity-related technologies since 1992, foreign-invested enterprises continued to outperform Chinese-owned enterprises by 10–110% in terms of sectoral emission intensities until 2010. Therefore, China may have reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 1200–1400 million tonnes during 1992–2010, if Chinese-owned enterprises could have duplicated the emission-intensity-related technologies of the corresponding foreign-invested enterprises. More specifically, China should prioritize the adoption of the thermal and wind power generation technologies of the U.S., the photovoltaic system and related national electric grid upgrading technologies of Germany, the mineral and metal production and carbon emissions control technologies of Japan, and the machinery and transportation technologies of Europe. In an ideal scenario that assumes Chinese-owned enterprises would have eventually adopted the world's leading technologies, China could have reduced its total carbon dioxide emissions by about 50% in 2010. From a policy perspective, as foreign-invested enterprises are quite widespread; they can serve as very effective and efficient channels for technology transfer from developed to developing countries.
Published Version
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