The 2019 China International Green Development Conference opens in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sept 9. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Though it may have gotten a late start, green development in China has been charging forward at a rapid rate, said Yang Qingwei, president of the Investment Association of China, at the 2019 China International Green Development Conference in Xiamen, Fujian province on Sept 9.

Sun Xuegong, director at the economic research institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, added that China's green development began back when the country's economic outlook was still relatively poor.

"It is important that we don't sacrifice people's living standards for green development, in that way, scientific innovation must be put at the foremost, making it possible for enterprises to benefit from technological progress, cut their costs and win market margins," Sun said.

Zhan Xiaoning, editor-in-chief of the World Investment Report issued by the United Nations, shared a list of statistics from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

He said that the GDP of G20 countries is expected to increase 2.8 percent by 2050, if infrastructure of countries involved were invested considering their respective economic growth and tackling climate change. That figure would be as high as 5 percent if taking into account the economic benefits that would be generated by reducing the damage done by natural disasters.