Made in China goods bad for environment: Study

New York: Products made in China may cost you less but they are associated with significantly higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than the same products made elsewhere, claims new research.

"The amazing increase in Chinese manufacturing over the past 15 years has driven the world economy to new heights and supplied consumers in developed countries with tremendous quantities of lower-cost goods," said study co-author Steven Davis, assistant professor of Earth system science at University of California, Irvine, US.

"But all of this has come at substantial cost to the environment," Davis noted.

The researchers attributed China's high emissions intensity - the quantity of CO2 emitted per dollar of goods produced - to the nation's antiquated manufacturing processes and reliance on coal.

"The CO2 emissions related to China's exports are large not just because they export a lot of stuff or because they specialise in energy-demanding industries, but because their manufacturing technologies are less advanced and they rely primarily on coal for energy," study co-author Klaus Hubacek, professor of geographical science at University of Maryland said.

The findings suggest that consumption of Chinese-made goods by consumers in advanced economies is potentially accelerating global climate change, a problem without national borders.

For this study, researchers paid particular attention to Chinese regions with high emissions intensity.

They found that steel mills, mineral processors and petrochemical plants in Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Yunnan and Shanxi are among China's dirtiest industries.

Davis and his colleagues suggest that developed countries could do a lot to alleviate carbon pollution by helping improve manufacturing processes in these areas.

"This analysis can help policymakers in China and internationally identify the industries and provinces in which efforts to promote less energy-intensive manufacturing equipment and practices would have the largest leverage to reduce CO2 emissions," study lead author Zhu Liu, research associate at Harvard University, pointed out.

"Given the differences we observed within industries and across provinces in China, many opportunities would involve creating incentives to promote the adoption of Chinese best practices," Liu said.

The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.