High-energy-intensive industry is an important source of CO₂ emissions in China. Reducing the carbon intensity in high-energy-intensive industry (CIHII) is one of the main ways to achieve China's emission reduction targets by 2030. By using the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2015 based on the spatial-temporal characteristics of the CIHII, we further analysed the impact factors using spatial econometric models. The results showed the following:1) from 2000 to 2015, the CIHII showed a significant downward trend, decreasing from 8.70 to 4.58 tons/ten thousand yuan. 2) The CIHII varied greatly among provinces, with a regional pattern of "higher in the west than in the east" and "higher in the north than in the south." In addition, CIHII also had significant spatial autocorrelation characteristics. 3) The local CIHII was obviously affected by the surrounding provinces. Technological innovation, foreign trade, and industrial agglomeration not only had an effect on the local high-energy-consuming industries but also affected the surrounding provinces through spatial spillover effects. Energy structure, industrial structure, and enterprise scale could only act on local CIHII. The spatial spillover effect of environmental regulation was significant, while the economic development level and urbanization had no significant effect on CIHII. Finally, based on the research findings, we proposed policies to reduce CIHII from four aspects:spatial spillover effects, dominant factors, regional differences, and industrial transfer.