According to the Porter Hypothesis, framed by Harvard economist Michael Porter 28 years ago, strict environmental regulations can promote commercial competitiveness by encouraging efficiency and innovation.

Ren, who is also assistant secretary-general of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, a government advisory body made up of Chinese and foreign experts and officials, said one example of the practicality of the hypothesis was the development of the Japanese automobile sector.

In the 1970s, research in Japan and the United States concluded that a more stringent exhaust emission standard would harm the development of the automobile industry. Only Japan chose to upgrade it, he said, which led to Japanese cars becoming increasingly popular in the 1980s, while US manufacturers lost market share.

Ren also cited a recent example of the hypothesis in action in Wenan county, Hebei province.

As part of the local government's effort to improve air quality, the county shut down many small, polluting plywood factories from 2016 to 2017, with the number of manufacturers cut from 2,000 to around 200.

The initiative succeeded in reducing air pollution and enhancing the competitiveness of the industry in the county. In 2017, the plywood industry's tax payments to the county doubled, while discharges of airborne pollutants fell significantly.

Wenan's air quality was not even among the top 100 for administrative divisions in Hebei previously, but in 2017, it was in the top 20, Ren said.

"The central leadership of China has a clear policy orientation to promote green and high-quality development," he said. "Green development was listed as a priority in the country's ecological progress in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China."