Giant petrochemical project underway in Guangdong

Construction of a $10 billion petrochemical project officially kicked off in Huizhou, Guangdong province, on Wednesday, aiming to help build the Pearl River Delta city into a world-class, green petrochemical production base in coming years, according to a statement released by the Huizhou city government.

Located in Huizhou's Daya Bay district in the eastern part of the province, the first phase of the gigantic petrochemical project launched by Guangdong Provincial Government and ExxonMobil Corp is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.

The first phase includes construction of ethylene cracking facilities, with a capacity of more than 1.6 million tons a year.

It is intended to help alleviate a shortage of polyolefin-based plastic in the mainland market and reduce the Chinese market's dependence on imports of high-performance polyolefin products in the future.

It will utilize advanced, environmentally friendly and mature proprietary production technologies to ensure construction of a green petrochemical complex, playing a leading role in Huizhou's and Guangdong's economic construction in the years ahead, the statement said.

It's also expected the project will play a role in boosting Guangdong's energy structure and upgrading its petrochemical industry in coming years.

Guangdong, one of the country's economic powerhouses, has of great potential for the development of petrochemical industry, and the province's market for petrochemical products is huge, the statement said.