Objective/Meaning Against the backdrop of global climate change, the advancement of carbon neutrality goals, and the restructuring of global value chains, this paper examines the evolving characteristics and mechanisms of low-carbon trade competitiveness between Fujian and Taiwan, with a view to providing a reference for green trade transformation and high-quality integrated development.

Methods/Procedures Based on input-output tables and carbon emission data for 2012, 2017, and 2022, this study measures the low-carbon trade competitiveness index for Fujian and Taiwan as a whole and for four major sectors, and analyzes the logic of its evolution from the perspective of changes in GVC specialization patterns.

Results/Conclusions The findings are as follows: (1) Fujian’s overall low-carbon trade competitiveness exhibited a “V-shaped” evolution, forming a pattern characterized by “services-led growth, industrial recovery, and drag from agriculture and energy.” Taiwan remained at a low comparative-advantage level, displaying the features of “trade surplus but weak low-carbon advantage”; agriculture and energy remained persistently weak, industrial advantages fluctuated, and the service sector weakened. (2) In Fujian, forward participation increased, backward dependence declined, and its position in the division of labor improved overall. Although Taiwan maintained a relatively high level of participation, its backward dependence deepened and its positional advantage receded. (3) Relying on the expansion of digital services, the development of green manufacturing, and the optimization of the energy structure, Fujian promoted specialization upgrading and enhanced its competitiveness. Taiwan, by contrast, was constrained by backward dependence and carbon-intensive inputs, resulting in insufficient transformation of specialization advantages. These findings indicate that improving low-carbon trade competitiveness hinges on optimizing GVC participation patterns, reducing dependence on carbon-intensive inputs, and improving carbon efficiency.