It's possible to manufacture stuff without emitting CO2, so what matters is who is in charge of the choice of how it gets manufactured, because that's who has to change it.

Is it? News to me. Try to manufacture anything physical without emitting CO2. Not doable.

You can literally manufacture things by hand. What CO2 is being emitted by someone who makes furniture from wood with hand tools?

Large scale factory equipment will, of course, run on electricity, but electricity can be generated from solar/wind/nuclear/hydro.

Whatever you’re making is going to require materials, the manufacturing of which emits CO2, and transportation of your product will also require CO2, as will the rest of the sales chain to the consumer.

But more to the point, because we’re quibbling over an irrelevant issue: I contend that it is unfair to attribute all of China’s emissions to China, and if we’re being honest much of it is attributable to the West which deindustrialized itself and instead makes almost everything there.

> Whatever you’re making is going to require materials, the manufacturing of which emits CO2

This is circular logic. "Manufacturing emits CO2 because manufacturing emits CO2."

> transportation of your product will also require CO2

It doesn't. It's possible to use electric trains and trucks and electricity doesn't have to be generated from burning fossil fuels.

> I contend that it is unfair to attribute all of China’s emissions to China, and if we’re being honest much of it is attributable to the West which deindustrialized itself and instead makes almost everything there.

Attribution is boring. Do China want to do the manufacturing in a way that doesn't emit CO2, or do they want to let someone else do the manufacturing so the someone else can do it in a way that doesn't emit CO2? Those are the options.