Revealing the hidden health costs embodied in Chinese exports

China emits a considerable amount of air pollutants when producing goods for export. Previous e fforts have emphasized the magnitude of export-related emissions; however, their health consequences on the Chinese population have not been quanti fied. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study to estimate the health impact of export-related air pollution. The results show that export-related emissions elevated the annual mean population weighted PM 2.5 by 8.3 μg/m3 (15% of the total) in 2007, causing 157,000 deaths and accounting for 12% of the total mortality attributable to PM 2.5-related air pollution. Compared to the eastern coastal provinces, the inner regions experience much larger exportrelated health losses relative to their economic production gains, owing to huge inter-regional disparities in export structures and technology levels. A shift away from emission-intensive production structure and export patterns, especially in inner regions, could signi ficantly help improve national exports while alleviating the inter-regional cost-bene fit inequality. Our results provide the first quantification of health consequences from air pollution related to Chinese exports. The proposed policy recommendations, based on health burden, economic production gains, and emission analysis, would be helpful to develop more sustainable and e ffective national and regional export strategies.