Evidence of policy-driven emission reductions and post-pandemic rebound from high-resolution inventories in China.

Tracking emission changes throughout the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is critical for revealing the impact of the pandemic on pollutant and carbon emissions; yet detailed assessments across this period remain limited. In this study, we developed integrative emission inventories for China in 2020 and 2023, and combined them with the inventory of 2018 to analyze national emissions of CO2 and nine air pollutants before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Emissions were mainly concentrated in economically industrialized and developed provinces like Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu, with higher emission intensities in energy-dependent provinces. 2020 saw notable declines in SO2 (-18.1 %), VOCs (-32.6 %), and CO (-8.8 %) emissions compared to 2018 levels due to pandemic lockdowns and emission reduction policies, while CO2 (11.6 %), NOx (16.8 %), and PM10 (21.9 %) increased owing to expanded power generation and metal production. As economic activities rebounded in 2023, emissions of CO2 (16.6 %) and nine air pollutants (3.2 %-15.1 %) increased compared with those in 2020, although adjustments in the energy structure helped reduce residential emissions of certain pollutants like PM and CO. Regionally, CO2 emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), Pearl River Delta (PRD), and Fenwei Plain (FWP) regions continued to rise, while VOCs declined during the pandemic but rebounded afterward. The FWP region, dominated by heavy industry and fossil energy production, showed persistent PM2.5 growth, facing greater challenges for emission reduction. These findings reveal the regional and sectoral emission dynamics throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting integrated air pollutants and carbon management policies in China.