Research on carbon emissions embodied in trade between China and South Korea

With the signature of the free trade agreement, trade ties will develop rapidly between China and South Korea. Based on input-output model, this paper calculates and decomposes the embodied carbon emissions in the trade between China and South Korea from 2000 to 2010, analyses the reasons and gives some future advices. This paper suggests that the embodied carbon emissions surplus is not caused by trade surplus. It further points out that textile and leather industries, chemical manufacturing industries and metal manufacturing industries are three main sectors contributing to imported and exported embodied carbon emissions. In addition, the trade diversion between China and South Korea helps a lot in reducing the global carbon emissions and eases the pressure of carbon emissions in China. This paper also proposes that China should learn advanced technologies from South Korea and reduce carbon-intensive energy consumption in the future.