Life cycle analysis on wood-based panels in terms of CO 2 flux can be used to quantitatively assess the climate change contributions of these materials. In this study, the annual CO 2 flux between 1990 and 2015 was calculated through gate-to-gate life cycle analysis of wood-based panels. As implied by the energy consumption standards, China's wood-based panels used to be carbon sources during the period 1990-2007, with the average contribution to CO 2 emissions of 9.20 Mt/year. The

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... n of new standards and the development of Cleaner production technologies in China, decreased the energy consumption per panel. China's wood-based panels acted as a carbon sink between 2008 and 2015, with the average contribution to CO 2 removal of 31.71 Mt/year. Plywood produced the largest contributions to the emission and removal of CO 2 , and was followed by fiberboard and particleboard. China's wood-based panels, with good prospects and strong demands projected in the future, can potentially contribute to climate change mitigation.