NETDA Chemical Industrial Park among national top 20

The chemical industrial park in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area (NETDA), Jiangsu province, achieved a new milestone, ranking 19th among national chemical industrial parks in terms of high-quality development.

The news was announced by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation on Oct 30 at the China Chemical Industrial Park Development Conference held in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

In the 1990s, capitalizing on its strategic coastal location, NETDA identified the petrochemical and fine chemical industries as pivotal components of its four key industrial pillars for growth. Leading enterprises like British pharmaceutical group Zeneca were among the pioneering cohort to establish their presence in the region.

Since the beginning of the new century, NETDA has strategically nurtured sectors like formaldehyde, synthetic rubber, and cutting-edge chemical materials such as polyoxymethylene (POM) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Noteworthy projects like Mitsubishi Chemical have been successfully put into operation.

The opening of the Su-Tong Yangtze River Highway Bridge in 2008 heralded a phase of rapid expansion for the chemical industry in NETDA.

A slew of globally renowned entities including Momentive — a world leader in quartz and ceramic technologies, Japan's Sumitomo Group, and Switzerland's Givaudan have chosen to set up operations in the area.

Consequently, the industrial park has evolved into an industrial hub with a distinctive edge, boasting a competitive advantage in synthetic rubber, engineering plastics, functional resins, silicone, plant protection, and more, thus solidifying its status as a pivotal foreign investment hub and a key production center for new chemical materials within the Yangtze River Delta region.

In recent years, NETDA has been steadfast in propelling green, low-carbon transformations, and digital empowerment to steer the chemical industry towards high-quality development. Projections indicate that the industrial output value of the chemical industrial park is set to soar by over 30 percent in 2024 compared to 2020.

A bird's-eye view of the chemical industrial park in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_78ba52d6e1ed]