Wu Xiwei, a Zhanjiang deputy to the second session of the 13th National People's Congress, proposes that Zhanjiang and Maoming be named a national petrochemical industrial base. [Photo/Sino-Kuwait (Guangdong) Refinery & Petrochemical Co Ltd]

Wu Xiwei, executive director of Sino-Kuwait (Guangdong) Refinery & Petrochemical and a Zhanjiang deputy to the second session of the 13th National People's Congress, proposed that Zhanjiang and Maoming be named a national petrochemical industrial base.

The two southern Chinese cities are home to one of the four largest integrated refinery and petrochemical bases in Guangdong. They are capable of refining 25 million tons of oil, 1.1 million tons of ethylene, and 600,000 tons of lubricating oil annually, and their capacity will be further increased in the ensuing years.

Work on the Sino-Kuwait integrated refinery and petrochemical project is currently progressing smoothly. The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, while preliminary work on the second phase will begin in 2020. By 2025, it is estimated that it will be able to refine 20 million tons of oil and 2 million tons of ethylene every year.

The construction site of the Sino-Kuwait integrated refinery and petrochemical project. [Photo by Nie Dongsheng/gdzjdaily.com.cn]

The $10 billion Verbund chemical complex in Zhanjiang, funded by German chemical giant BASF, is expected to be capable of producing 1 million tons of ethylene annually. Construction on the first phase of the complex will begin late this year.

The lubricating oil base operated by Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical is expected to be capable of producing 1 million tons of lubricating oil, 1.6 million tons of aromatic hydrocarbon, and 1.3 million tons of ethylene.

Listing Zhanjiang and Maoming as a national industrial base will help facilitate the agglomerative development of the petrochemical industry and accelerate growth in western Guangdong, said Wu.