Undue Blames on the Air Pollution Leakage From Affluent Provinces in China

Abstract Interregional trade significantly drives PM 2.5 pollution in regions exceeding China's air quality standards. While production‐based accounting ignores pollution transfers embodied in trade, conventional consumption‐based accounting (CBA) overlooks regional disparities in emission control. Using a Multi‐Regional Input‐Output model, this study applies a technology‐adjusted CBA (TCBA) to reassess China's air pollutant footprint and environmental‐economic inequality. Under TCBA, most of the affluent eastern provinces show notable footprint reductions, shifting from net emission importers to exporters due to their efforts on emission control. Conversely, less‐developed regions with lax controls show increased footprints. Regional inequality weakens under TCBA, with trade pairs showing absolute inequality dropping from 37% to 28%. Our study emphasizes the importance of acknowledging regional efforts on green production in future environment and climate governance.