Spatiotemporal evolution and equity implications of China's multi-scale carbon transfer network across provinces and...

Carbon emission transfers and the allocation of associated responsibilities are core issues in carbon system analysis. This study investigates the structural evolution and equity implications of China's multi-scale carbon emission transfer networks. We construct province-sector networks and identify pronounced scale-free and core-periphery topologies. Key carbon flows are highly concentrated in the power and heating sectors of resource-rich provinces and in the construction sector across provinces, indicating marked sectoral concentration effects. The spatial pattern of the carbon transfer network has shifted from a single-pole radiation centered on the eastern coast toward a multi-polar linkage pattern. This transition has enhanced the hub status of central and western provinces. Using Carbon Emissions Terms of Trade, Carbon Gini coefficients, and improved network centrality metrics, our analysis confirms the ongoing intensification of inter-provincial carbon inequality. We further identify a significant spatial mismatch between carbon responsibilities and economic benefits from both production-based and consumption-based perspectives. This mismatch constitutes the structural root of inter-provincial carbon inequality and reflects a systemic imbalance between responsibility and benefit in inter-regional industrial transfers. Integrating these findings with a macro-level fairness assessment, this study identifies key transmission pathways and structural hubs. It also provides policy implications for carbon responsibility allocation and more equitable regional emission reduction mechanisms.