With China becoming more engaged in the world via the Belt and Road Initiative and in other affairs, such as climate change, it is time for China to be working and deepening long-standing relationships with other nations, especially developing countries, he said.

The idea of ecological civilization can be applicable widely, not only in developing countries, but also in OECD countries or elsewhere, Hanson said.

"What I like about what China is trying to do is putting nature first and trying to rebuild and restore a new kind of relationship between people and the environment," he said.