The true cost of trade among neighbors: the role of Japanese imports in waste generation in China

China’s rapid economic development has caused considerable environmental problems in waste generation and treatment. One important reason for this is China’s manufacturing exports to other countries such as Japan, a major trading partner. However, the contribution of such importing countries has not yet been fully explored. This study quantitatively examined how final demand in trade between China and Japan affects both countries’ economies and waste generation. The results show that imports of final consumption goods from China to Japan induced enormous waste generation in China, while the wastes induced in Japan were negligible. Even if final demand exports from China to Japan are significantly economically beneficial to China, the cost to China from addressing the induced waste generation seems too much to make these exports worthwhile. To encourage constructive discussions, improvement of reliability and transparency of waste statistics in China that allows comparison with other countries would be significant.