News

Petroleum still big in Daqing, but the city broadens its outlook

By Hao Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-05 07:48

New ethylene project under construction in Daqing. Wu Di / For China Daily

Daqing, in Heilongjiang province in China's northeast, is hoping to take advantage of its membership in the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP) to help develop its economy over the next five years.

The city has an abundance of petroleum reserves and local officials have mapped out a plan to support petrochemical industry growth.

They expect to double annual sales revenues to 200 billion yuan ($30.4 billion) by the end of the five-year period. At the same time, sales of modern equipment, which includes oil facilities, are expected to reach 100 billion yuan, by 2015.

Because the Daqing oilfield is the biggest in China, it still plays a significant role in oil supplies and energy security fro the country.

In reaching the local government's sales target, they need to increase oil production - an annual output of about 40 million tons during the five-year period. Officials say they will make an effort to make production more orderly by removing buildings that obstruct gas pipelines and meeting oil exploration needs.

One other goal is improving Daqing's petroleum industry chain. The government plans to come up with policies that support large projects, for instance, increasing ethylene production, and it wants to help local companies develop cooperative relationships with the China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec).

Part of that plan involves attracting more investment to promote processing industries. The funds will mainly be used for oil-related areas like synthetic rubber, refining and plastic additives.

The local government also wants to increase the financial role of non-petroleum industries, from 2010's 48 percent to 60 percent, by the end of 2015, as part of the restructuring.

It has its sights set specifically on 10 industries, with plans to increase annual sales to 10 billion yuan each, over the next five years. They include the agricultural products processing, modern logistics, culture, and tourism sectors.

In addition, the government is keeping an eye on major projects involving vehicles, farm implements, and milk powder.

Industrial parks are in the planning stage or are being built to help with the city's economic transformation. One example is the national innovation technology zone. This park will be home to automobile manufacturers, the culture industry, and emerging industries.

This year, the start of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the city government has 256 industrial projects, big and small, each with more than 10 million yuan in backing. And, 45 are expected to be completed within the first half of the year.

The petrochemical, equipment manufacturing, and food processing businesses will continue to contribute to GDP growth - expected to be around 12 percent - in the coming years, the government says.

(China Daily 03/05/2011 page6)