Reexamine SO2 emissions embodied in China's exports using multiregional input–output analysis

Previous studies on embodied emission in China's exports focus on the national aggregate analysis while pay little attention to the interregional emission transfer driven by exports. We used multiregional input–output model of 30 provinces to reexamine the embodied emissions and to capture the interregional linkage in it. Results in 2002–2007 show that SO2 embodied in exports contributes 15.17–22.08% of the total domestic SO2 emissions, and 74.40–78.14% of the embodiment is in exports from the eastern provinces, where over 90% of China's exports occur. However, only about 70% of the embodied emission in eastern China's exports is discharged in the east; an increasing portion (24% to 34%) is released in the central and western provinces as a result of interregional production linkage. Moreover, the interregional connection becomes closer during the 2002–2007 period, which increases the scale and intensity of embodied emission in China's export given large gaps in emission intensity among regions. Further analysis on Guangdong, China's largest export province, shows that the SO2 emissions per unit of output induced by Guangdong's exports are larger than that induced by the province's own exports for most provinces, especially the central and western provinces which are restricted in exports and indirectly export by supporting Guangdong's exports via interregional economic linkage. The results yield important implications for China's export and pollution emission control policy.