Amidst the rising desire for environmental governance in China, the aluminum industry has aroused more extensive attention because of the intensive energy consumption. Based on the process‐based life cycle assessment (PLCA) method, emissions of nine typical air pollutants (PM, SO2, NOX, VOCs, CO, CO2, fluoride, asphalt fume, and PFCs) by the primary aluminum industry in China over the period 2005–2017 were calculated. The production process of aluminum industry was decomposed into three primary processes (alumina, carbon for aluminum, and electrolytic aluminum), and corresponding emission sources (fuel combustion, power consumption, and production process) were identified. The contributions of different processes and emission sources were then compared and spatiotemporal changes and their relation with existing policies were determined. The results show that the production of aluminum and the indirect source of electricity power are the dominant driving forces of air pollutants emissions of China's primary aluminum industry and aluminum production process, respectively. Pollutant‐emitting areas of the aluminum industry differed considerably. The country's industrial policies were discovered to strongly influence the emissions of aluminum industry. Based on the emission inventory, three scenarios were established to project the potential of emission reduction of air pollutants from the aluminum industry in China until the year 2025. In addition, the effectiveness of China's heavy pollution emergency response policy was evaluated. It suggests differentiated emergency control mode would be a more effective pathway for reducing the emissions of air pollutants by the aluminum industry.
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