City-level process-related CO2 emissions in China 2000–2021

As the world’s largest CO₂ emitter, China needs accurate city-level CO₂ emission accounts to formulate effective low-carbon policies. However, previous studies mainly accounted for emissions from fossil fuel combustion and overlooked process-related CO₂ emissions from industrial production (e.g., mineral, chemical, metal products), which account for approximately 13% of China’s total emissions. In this study, we built the first time-series dataset of process-related CO₂ emissions for 289 Chinese cities from 2000 to 2021. The dataset covers 11 industrial products and adheres to the methodology recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We applied China-specific emission factors and compiled industrial output data from city statistical yearbooks and bulletins. Missing output data were imputed using missForest models. The estimated uncertainty of the process-related emissions in our dataset ranges from 3.87% to 3.91%. Our dataset provides a robust foundation for analyzing emission patterns at the city level and for designing targeted low-carbon policies.