Particulate matter (PM) pollution from China is transported eastward to Korea and Japan and has been suggested to influence surface air quality on the West Coast of the United States. However, remote sensing studies have been inconclusive as to recent trends in Chinese emissions and transport. We reconciled different passive remote sensing points of view and found that while aerosol optical thickness (AOT) as an indicator of particulate pollution has increased from the start of the observation period (2000) to 2006–2007 from the main Chinese coastal outflow regions, since then there has been a 10–20% decrease in AOT (with respect to 2007). Reductions were observed in spring, summer, and fall seasons. No improvement in exported PM pollution is found for the winter season. Key Points Followed by an increase in AOT from 2000 to 2007, an ~10–20% decrease is found for AOT exiting east coastal of China from 2008 to 2015 Decreases in AOT are found for spring, summer, and fall seasons. No change is detected for the winter season Fine‐mode aerosols dominate the detected changes in summer and fall. A decrease in coarse‐mode AOT is also found for spring Plain Language Summary Particulate matter pollution from China is transported eastward to Korea and Japan and has been suggested to influence surface air quality on the West Coast of the United States. However, remote sensing studies have been inconclusive as to recent trends in Chinese emissions and transport. We reconciled different passive remote sensing points of view and found that while aerosol optcial thickness (AOT) as an indicator of particulate pollution has increased to 2006–2007 in the main exit regions of China's coast, since then there has been a 10–20% decrease in AOT (with respect to 2007). Reductions were observed in spring, summer, and fall seasons. No improvement in exported particulate matter pollution is found for the winter season.