China’s Trade of Agricultural Products Drives Substantial Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

China’s trade of agricultural products has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, resulting in considerable shifts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. This study aims to explore the evolution of GHG emissions embodied in China’s trade of agricultural products from 1995 to 2015. The GHG emissions embodied in China’s exports of agricultural products experienced three stages of fluctuation, showing a significant upward trend (1995–2003), a fluctuating trend (2004–2007), and a fall back to the previous level (2008–2015). The embodied GHG emissions in China’s imports were witnessed at times of sustained growth, rising from 10.5 Mt CO2-eq in 1995 to 107.7 Mt CO2-eq in 2015. The net import of embodied GHG emissions has grown at an average annual rate of 25.1% since 2008. In terms of regional contribution, the distribution of China’s trading partners tended to be diversified. The increasing net imports of oil crops to China resulted in a significant GHG emissions shift from China to the US and Brazil. Asian countries contributed to 76.9% of the total GHG emissions embodied in China’s agricultural exports. The prominent impacts of China’s trade of agricultural products on global GHG emissions provide important implications for climate-related policy choices.