China's CO2 emission has attracted world's attention in the last few years for its rapid increase. It is necessary to analyze the current situation of China's carbon emission for its CO2 reduction. Carbon flow chart is an intuitive and quantitative tool for showing a whole picture of CO2 flows and emissions data. According to the IPCC method, the authors analyze China's CO2 emissions and draft China's CO2 flow chart for 2008. We find that: (1) China's CO2 emissions increase fast, while its CO2 intensity declines continuously in most years; (2) CO2 emissions from industry and construction account for 76.67% of the total CO2 emissions of terminal sub‐sectors, in which ferrous metal industry emits the largest amount; (3) coal maintains as the largest emission source of CO2 from the point of view of fuel type in China, accounting for 78.20% of the total primary CO2 flow; (4) process emissions are considerable and (5) it is necessary to adjust the primary energy mix in China for energy‐related CO2 reduction.
