Although the roles and actions of cities in global carbon management are being increasingly debated in many international forums recently, these discussions realistically lack three basic points - the definition, global-regional-city estimate of urban contributions, and the capability and the relevance of city government in carbon management debate. While at global level, a number of institutions are about to release city’s energy share in global energy use and related analyses we have attempted to study these in the context of China which influences global numbers significantly.

China contributes to 15% of the world's primary energy consumption and emits 19% of global CO2 emissions from energy use. With 40% urban population in 2007 and a majority of energy used in urban areas, the contribution of urban areas in China's energy and carbon profiles is already prominent. However, the contribution of urban areas in China's current energy use is now not known and dynamics of urban energy less understood. The definitional complexities of “urban” in china is equally daunting. This presentation, based on a recently carried out study by the author, shows the estimate of urban energy consumption of China and analyzes the urban energy transition taking place in China and their drivers. It also illustrates, compares and analyses historical energy and carbon emissions from four key cities- Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing. Results suggest that urban contributes to 84% of China's commercial energy consumption in 2006. Analyses of the top 35 cities of China show that they yield a disproportionate influence to economy, energy and carbon emissions of China but within these 35 cities they exhibit two different energy-economy pathways. Analyses further suggest that economic growth and energy intensities have significantly contributed to increasing and dampening of CO2 emissions respectively, and a rapid urban energy transition is taking place in cities of China in terms of energy efficiencies and economic outputs' energy connections. Moreover, the carbon intensity of economic activities, which had reduced dramatically in last two decades in selected cities are now seems to either stagnated or started worsening in recent years.