A senior environmental official has called for intensifying efforts to explore green technological innovation as countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative work toward a green recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, by making use of an innovation center established in China.

Zhao Yingmin, vice-minister of ecology and environment, made the remarks on Thursday as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 2021 BRI Green Innovation Conference.

Held under the theme of "Green Recovery and Innovative Low-carbon Development", the conference took place in Shenzhen, a high-tech hub in Guangdong province where the Belt and Road Environmental Technology Exchange and Transfer Center is based.

He said that during the COP 26 United Nations climate change conference that concluded last month in the United Kingdom, many spoke of how as world strives to make net zero carbon emissions a reality by 2050, almost half of the reductions will result from technologies that are currently at the demonstration or prototype phase.

"Innovation points the way to our future," he stressed.

Zhao promised intensified effort from China in strengthening capacity building in Belt and Road countries for green recovery, as it strives to promote the development of low-carbon technologies.

"We need to turn to low-carbon technology innovations to gain momentum for a green recovery," he noted.

He said that Shenzhen boasts great advantages in technology, talent and capital as China endeavors to build the city into a platform for low-carbon technology innovation.

He added that the Chinese government chose to set up the Technology Exchange and Transfer Center in the city in the hopes that Shenzhen will support Belt and Road countries and even the rest of the world in capacity building toward sustainable development.

He called on BRI countries to intensify low-carbon cooperation on infrastructure, energy, transportation and finance to explore green solutions for climate change mitigation, upgrading industry and the development of a circular economy.

"We will continue to deepen green cooperation and to make environmental awareness a defining feature of Belt and Road cooperation," Zhao said.