Green innovation drives industry evolution

Yao Wenping, Vice President of the China Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronic Products Import and Export, strongly opposes such views.

She cited Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria as examples of less-developed countries that have successfully safeguarded imported goods with the so-called green standard to their country.

"Green barriers, you could say that. But it also served as a forced mechanism of innovation. Otherwise, our products would not be able to access the foreign market. Thus, we have to constantly upgrade our technology, adapt to the external environment and cater to the demand of overseas markets."

This will transform the country's growth pattern as China will no longer enjoy the edge from cheap labor and exports.

The world's second largest economy is trying to steer itself into becoming an inclusive one by promoting service industries and technological innovation.

Hao Yufeng again.

"The real issue in our discussion of development remodeling concerns the mechanism. Overcoming the obstacles is not about a factory changing its products, say from rice to wheat, but the way we look at things and how we deal with them, as well as the relationship between enterprises and governments.

Whether domestic companies can function as what they ought to, whether governments can behave how they are expected to, that is the crux of the issue."

Recently, the State Council has bulked up its support of relevant industries and enterprises involved in energy saving and technology innovation.

Eligible green companies will be among the first batch to receive corporate bonds for financing.

Foreign firms will enjoy the same preferential treatment as their Chinese counterparts.