Climate change mitigation efficiency of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in China: From the perspective of energy transition and circular economy

•The climate change mitigation efficiency of electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) in 30 provinces of China is assessed from 2016 to 2019, using slack-based data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) and Malmquist Productivity IIndex.•There are substantial regional disparities in China's EVCI mitigation efficiency and its dynamic change.•Resource utilization and energy structure are proved to have significant impacts on the mitigation performance of EVCI.•By intergrating with circular economy and energy transition, EVCI can perform better in accelerating carbon emission abatement.