It's unsurprising because China burns a LOT of coal and has a per capita emissions about the same as the UK, even taking into account exports vs imports (!) in spite of the much lower per capita income. China burns ~51% of the world's coal, in spite of not having even close to 51% of the world's population. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Global-coal-consumption-...

(I think China's coal plants tend to be smaller and so don't show up on these lists.)

If everyone else drops their emissions to zero (which needs to happen) and goes autarkic, cutting off all trade with China, assuming China maintains its stability and current energy mix, we'll still be screwed from a climate perspective.

We need everyone to reduce emissions, including China and the West both.