Tracing Chinese provincial CO₂ emissions in cross-border production – An accounting base for decarbonizing production chains

China promotes interplay between domestic and international economic systems while striving to peak CO₂ emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. As key implementers in achieving these targets, with diversified resource endowments, locations, and development stages, Chinese provinces urgently need to understand current CO₂ emissions and their structures in relation to the interprovincial and international production. This study traces Chinese provinces' CO₂ emissions in cross-border production using an Inter-Country Input-Output model for 2017 embedding Chinese provinces. Results show that CO₂ embedded in cross-border production, particularly those crossing borders multiple times, dominated Chinese provincial emissions. Less CO₂-intensive manufacturing and service sectors play a major role in mid- and down-stream production, with differences in production crossing borders once and multiple times. For regions, several well-developed provinces transfer China's CO₂ domestically and internationally. Compared with destinations where CO₂ first crosses borders, more international regions are involved in leading multi-time cross-border production networks. The United States (US) is a crucial final destination in multi-time cross-border production and some emerging economies are found in mid- and down-streams. These findings indicate the potential efficacy of considering cross-border production networks in decarbonization policies, with technological progress and international cooperation contributing to CO₂ reduction.