China eyes greener, smarter chemical sectors by 2025

BEIJING -- China pursues greener and smarter petrochemical and chemical sectors in the 2021-2025 period, according to an official guideline released Thursday.

About 70 chemical industrial parks with competitive advantages will be set up by 2025, with their output accounting for over 70 percent of the sectors' total output, said the development guideline issued by government agencies including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The guideline called for markedly decreasing the energy consumption and carbon emissions per unit of bulk products by 2025, and cutting the emissions of volatile organic compounds by over 10 percent from the 2016-2020 period.

It added that some 30 intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories and about 50 smart chemical demonstration zones will be built by 2025.

Stressing the importance of innovation, the guideline called for enhanced investment in research and development from major enterprises and breakthroughs in more than 20 key generic technologies.