The study aimed to understand the relationships between regional economic development, energy consumption and total carbon emissions in Chinese provinces by analyzing panel data from 1995-2010. Uneven growth across regions was found to contribute significantly to lower carbon dioxide emissions in China during this time period. It was also found that differential growth saved about 580.34 million tonnes of CO2 from 1996-2010, which accounts for about 2.32% of the total changes. Simulations were conducted to analyze the chances of lowering energy intensity and emissions intensity in the 12th Five-Year Plan, as well as the goal of lowering carbon emissions intensity by 2020.