The leather industry has contributed significantly to economic development, but serious water environmental problems have arisen due to manufacturing processes in this industry. The leather industry must implement sustainable development by improving cleaner production capabilities under the Chinese ecological development background. The Xinji industrial park in China has the largest leather production base in which the leather industry is the leading industry that contributes nearly 50% of economic gains. This study investigated optimal cleaner production strategies for the leather industrial park by adopting an improved multi-objective simulation approach integrating the environmentally extended input–output and system dynamics models. Simulations were able to estimate the socio-economic and water environment development of the Xinji industrial park from 2015 to 2025. Adopting cleaner approaches, including production efficiency enhancing, sewage pre-treatment facility construction in leather companies, and reclaimed water recycling, simulation results indicated that, with steady economic growth (optimal 7.7% annual growth rate), it is possible to conserve 18% of the water resources, with an 80 % and 90% reduction for the chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia (NH₃-N) water pollutant emission intensity, respectively. The cleaner development path and measures analyzed in this study are of great significance to promote the sustainable development of leather industrial parks.