New analysis suggests China has changed how it calculates carbon intensity, effectively cutting reported emissions growth from 14% to 7% between 2020 and 2025. This shift in methodology removes roughly 700 million metric tons of CO2 per year from the records. Researchers indicate the change stems from excluding non-energy fossil fuel uses, such as chemical production, while including industrial process emissions from a declining cement sector. These accounting adjustments make it easier for China to meet its 2030 climate targets even if absolute emissions continue to rise.
