Tracking greenhouse gas emissions in Chinese value chains with an interprovincial input–output model

China’s carbon emission growth patterns exhibit marked regional differences, mainly caused by heterogeneities in initial resource endowment, economic scale, industrial structure, development stage, and international connections. To better characterize embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emission patterns and their importance for interprovincial and industrial value chains in China, we analyzed the temporal and regional-scale spatial relationships between value-added and production-based GHG emissions in domestic value chains in 2012, 2015, and 2017 using an interprovincial input–output framework and accounting for interprovincial economic development correlations. The results demonstrate a gradually increasing flow of value-added GHG emissions within interprovincial value chains in the current interprovincial economic context. Within Chinese national value chains, the value-added emissions increased in Beijing–Tianjin and coastal areas, concurrently with decreasing local production-based emissions. Additionally, temporal evolution of provincial statuses and roles occurred within the value chains. Specifically, the roles of Shandong and Guangdong Provinces gradually evolved from suppliers to consumers of value-added emissions, indicating upgraded industries. Finally, the analysis of value-added industrial emissions showed partial decoupling between provinces, induced by the transformation and development of specific industries, emphasizing the need for close monitoring of industrially produced value-added GHG emissions in some provinces.