Green petrochemical industry

This major project has provided industrial support for Zhejiang Free Trade Zone to build a comprehensive petrochemical industrial chain and bring about the rapid development of a series of related businesses such as import and export of bulk raw materials, product trading, storage and logistics, and financial services.

Zhejiang province is in a critical period of reform and transformation as a series of policies including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone have been initiated in recent years. The Zhejiang Free Trade Experimental Zone, formally established on April 1, 2017, has been fully implemented under the jurisdiction of Zhoushan, highlighting the importance of the petrochemical industry and facilitating investments in the oil industry and trade liberalization.

Yuan Jiajun, governor of Zhejiang province, has appealed for domestic and foreign oil merchants to grasp the opportunities brought about by the development and construction of Zhejiang Free Trade Zone. “Major changes have taken place in the pattern of oil consumption and trade. In 2016, China's crude oil imports reached 380 million tons, and its foreign dependence reached 65.4 percent, while 60 percent of imported crude oil was stored, transported and transferred in Ningbo Zhoushan Port,” Yuan said.

Other than building a trillion-ton petrochemical industrial chain, the free trade zone will achieve 100 million tons of oil product reserve capacity, 100 million tons of oil refining capacity and 100 million tons of trading capacity in the near future. Zhoushan, with abundant resources and preferential policies, is bound to continue its role as an important growth engine for economic development in Zhejiang and even the Yangtze River Delta region in the future.