Sinopec and BASF among companies pouring billions of dollars into Guangdong's coastal economic belt

The harbor-based industry of Zhanjiang, a city in South China's Guangdong province, has been on a fast development track in recent years with the establishment of several projects worth tens of billions of dollars each in investment.

The picturesque Huguangyan Scenic Area in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. YANG XIAO/FOR CHINA DAILY

One is the Zhongke (Guangdong) Refinery and Petrochemical project. Located on Donghai Island, the project is the largest of its kind by China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec.

The giant petrochemical project began operation on June 16. By Aug 30, it had provided the Chinese market with 33,800 metric tons of gasoline and diesel that met the national VI standard and on Sept 4, 280 tons of polypropylene resins.

Its first phase is expected to realize an annual industrial output value of more than 60 billion yuan ($8.78 billion) and generate pre-tax profits of more than 26 billion yuan a year.

The project will support the China's Belt and Road Initiative and national development in energy and chemical industries.

It will also help Zhanjiang realize the goal of developing itself into a subcenter of Guangdong and a major growth point of the province's modern coastal economic belt, local officials said.

Deng Hanshen, a senior executive of the project, added it may help attract more than 200 billion yuan of investment to the middle and lower reaches of the city's petrochemical industry, including plastic materials, electronic chemicals and fine chemicals.