President Xi Jinping’s presence at the climate summit in Paris showcases China's intention to play a big role on the global stage, said a veteran China observer.

“What we found significant is that President Xi himself will be attending the climate summit, which shows the country’s commitment in tackling the climate-change challenge,” said Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce since 1996.“And this has also shown how China has given importance to the summit.''

A total of 147 global leaders, including Xi and US President Barack Obama, will attend the summit. When the Copenhagen summit was held in 2009, then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao attended.

In recent months, China and United States — the world’s biggest economies and carbon emitters — have worked together to reduce carbon pollutants, which Dewit said is of great significance.

“Before, you did not have that. I think that makes me more optimistic for results of the conference because if two of the biggest countries in the world have strong commitments, then that can have a result for the others also,” he said at his law firm in Brussels.

Dewit said China is experiencing “big change” in its ecological thinking and environmental policy. During the years of reform and opening up since the 1980s, China has focused on boosting industrial production and exports to lift people out of poverty.

“What we see now is that China has reached a certain level of development and can focus more on the well-being of its citizens in daily life, not only in the cities but also in the countryside,” said Dewit, a lawyer who travels between Europe and China frequently.

He said what China is doing now in environmental and climate efforts could bring more business opportunities, which he explained is important because sometimes the danger is that the world will stop industrial production to return to a kind of paradise.

“That is purely imagination; we have to be realistic. And I think the encouraging thing about China is to be realistic,” he said.

Dewit said China is well balanced on development with environmental protection.

“We have also to be aware that countries like China are still developing, but will make efforts to cut pollution, to better protect the environment, and we have to work for the next generations,” he said.

Dewit said he has also noticed that China has put a lot of effort in green development in its next five-year plan period, which Western observers say the Chinese leadership is seriously committed to.“And then it will give targets to provinces, to the local cities to follow,” he said

Dewit said that he believes China’s commitment to green development will further expand cooperation between the country and Europe, which has developed high-technology for environmental protection during the last 20 years.

“So for that the EU can be also useful to China, having some high-technology that China does not have,” he said.

Dewit said he knows that China has made a lot of effort on environmental protection, with more and more Chinese companies doing research and development in the sector. He said that some Europe-based companies eventually will have more technological advances because they have been active for many years.

“And that can be a nice complementary between the Chinese companies and the European companies in that field,” said Dewit.

He said that he think President Xi is serious on taking environmental action. What is also interesting, Dewit said, is that Chinese people are being pragmatic and realistic by introducing a carbon-emission trading system and carbon taxation.“Because a human being is a human being, if you have no incentives you don’t do it,” he said.

Dewit said he can still remember more than 10 years ago when former French prime minister Michael Rocard urged China to take more responsibility in the world, but that China said it was only a developing country.

“Now you country is playing a bigger role, your country is more active internationally,” he said.