Danish catalysis company Haldor Topsoe A/S (Topsoe) announced on Wednesday the opening of an advanced catalytic converter plant in North China's Tianjin, which experts said highlights the potential for cooperation between China and Denmark in the environmental protection sector.

The plant is located in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA), with an investment totaling 600 million yuan ($91.11 million), marking Topsoe's largest investment ever worldwide.

According to a press release Topsoe sent to the Global Times on Wednesday, the factory is scheduled to commence production on Thursday.

Company executives declined to disclose details about the plant's production capacity, citing confidentiality, but Board Chairman Henrik Topsoe told the Global Times on Wednesday that the factory is expected to have the company's largest output capacity.

The plant will focus on producing advanced catalytic converters, which can be used to remove basic components of nitrogen oxides as well as hazardous soot particles in exhaust gas from medium- and heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles such as trucks and buses, Topsoe Vice President Rui Hao explained.

"In recent years, air pollution has been a problem for the Chinese government and general public, especially in major cities. And that's why we established a plant in China for the first time," Rui noted. "If the catalysts we produce are installed in the engines of diesel-powered vehicles, air quality will be improved significantly."

The company also claims the production of catalytic converters will contribute to the environmental goals set in China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

Rui also mentioned that the project has gained technical and financial support from both the Chinese and Danish governments.

"The Investment Fund for Developing Countries, which is a self-governing fund owned by the Danish government, has channeled 140 million yuan into the project," Rui said.

The Danish government is pushing forward the opportunity to cooperate with China, especially in the environmental protection sector, Counsellor of Energy at the Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing Lars Eskild Jensen told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"We have spent many years in addressing environmental issues and building Denmark into a green country, and we are looking to export this technology to China," Jensen said, noting that the Danish government encourages domestic innovative companies like Topsoe to open up the Chinese market.

Experts said that prospects for cooperation between China and Denmark in the sustainable development sector is quite broad.

"Denmark also possesses advanced technologies in renewable energy like wind, solar and water, and all of them are areas of cooperation where the two economies have great potential to grow," Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times Wednesday.