Similarly, on my last trip to China, I saw Hong Kong had introduced electric cars with plug points and suitable parking lots. Such initiatives can be extended to other places quite easily once battery costs begin to drop. Technology too can play a greater role, not simply as an alternative to curbing environmental pollution but also to help mitigate its worst effects. A London-based architecture and design company, called Orproject, has plans to let Beijing residents breathe clean air in a park enclosed in a bubble. This would involve housing a botanical garden under a bubble dome-like structure, which could potentially cover office buildings, retail outlets as well as homes.

The air inside the bubble would be filtered before being pumped into the park and the buildings, which would have to be airtight. The bubble's roof is created by a computer algorithm that can generate and grow patterns that are based on those seen in leaves and butterfly wings. The co-founder of the project is in talks with developers and local government officials to make the idea a reality in Beijing and it is certainly something to watch out for in the bilateral relations between the British and Chinese capitals.

Chinese cities can take the lead in tackling this modern plague. The experience of the United Kingdom over the past 200 years is that rapid economic development can result in very damaging consequences for the environment and humans. But if the political leadership is strong and there is transparency between science, politics and the people, there is no reason why China cannot lead the other emerging economies in showing how growth and development can be made sustainable in the long term.

The benefits for human health would be considerable, the innovation and lessons learnt could be applied globally and the state would be able to guarantee one of the basic needs of human existence - access to clean, fresh air.

The author is the chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee.