Abstract The convergence of carbon emissions in the industrial sector is an important prerequisite for achieving peak carbon emissions in China. This study investigates the carbon emissions intensity convergence of 24 industrial sectors in China between 1995 and 2015 based on an environmental performance index method and the convergence model. The results find that beta-conditional convergence exists across the carbon intensities of all industrial sectors by considering capital intensity and per-capita sectoral value added. This finding indicates that the carbon intensities of all sectors converge to different steady levels and are influenced by the two considered control variables. A decrease in the capital intensity or increase in the per-capita value added increases the degree of carbon intensity convergence, but the effect of per-capita value added is greater. Additionally, club convergence analyses show that there are two stronger convergent clubs of carbon intensity for 20 sectors, but the convergence evidence of the remaining four sectors is relatively weak.