One of the main issues of global climate negotiations is how to definine the carbon emission responsibility of a country. It is important to establish a fair, effective and feasible division principle for which the country’s interest is greatly concerned with and the carbon emission reduction policy is relied on. The currently adopted principle is the production-based principle one, which defined by IPCC. However after decades of developments in theory and practice, its setbacks have been gradually revealed along the way. Thus other principles are proposed for the sake of its improvement, such as consumption-based, income-based and shared responsibility principle. A comprehensive comparison of all principles and their empirical methodologies is helpful for China to appeal for a fairer carbon emission principle and a proper assignment of carbon emission responsibility.