"I was thankful that my Chinese team was there, otherwise, that year, the impression of China in this field would have been absolutely bleak and negative," Xi said. "That same day, in the afternoon, our team gave a presentation, and at the end of it China received a prolonged standing ovation. I was relieved that with our efforts in China, our counterparts and the public worldwide were being given a balanced view of China. I wanted them to know China still has such wonderful nature and wild animals, and many people are working hard to protect wildlife."

Many conservation groups and media have spared little effort in promoting wildlife protection but Xi and others feel that much more needs to be done.

"I'd love to know how big China's legal wildlife trade was as a proportion of GDP last year," Xi said. "And how minuscule this number is compared with the economic losses the coronavirus epidemic is causing. Think about China's national image: as long as you're still consuming wild animals in any form, you're far from being civilized, and the China you say you represent is far from being a genuine civilization."