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Greening, world-class standards, standardization, and intelligence – Outlook for the development of chemical industrial parks in 2019. Author/Source: China Chemical Industry News. Date: 2019-02-12. Clicks: 58. In 2018, as hazardous chemical enterprises moved into these parks, environmental inspections were carried out, and enterprises that violated environmental regulations were forced to shut down, the overall quality of the chemical industry improved. The role of chemical industrial parks in driving industry transformation, upgrading, and green development became increasingly important. The industrial structure of the park continues to improve, green development is advancing steadily, there is an increasing emphasis on safety and environmental protection, and the level of integrated and intelligent management is rising steadily. 2019 was a crucial period for the transformation and upgrading of our chemical industry; it was therefore particularly important to accelerate the development of a number of advanced chemical parks that feature distinct industrial characteristics, coordinated upstream and downstream operations, comprehensive recycling of resources, efficient operation of common infrastructure, and integrated intelligent management. Overall, the development of chemical industrial parks in 2019 will, building on the progress seen in 2018, be characterized by an further increase in sustainability levels, accelerated establishment of world-class petrochemical hubs, the emergence of initial frameworks for standardization, and greater emphasis on intelligent management. Green transformation is imperative. In 2018, new progress was made in the development of our green industrial parks; the \"General Guidelines for Evaluating Green Petrochemical Parks\" were formulated under the leadership of the Chemical Industrial Park Working Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and the Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technological Development Zone. Among the first three batches of listed green industrial parks, 15 petrochemical parks from Ningbo, Shanghai, Daya Bay, Zhenjiang, Liaocheng, Ningdong and other places were included on the list, accounting for 18.75% of the 80 green industrial parks nationwide. The creation of green parks provides important support and assurance for improving the level of green development in the petrochemical industry. In 2019, \"green development\" remained one of the key priorities for chemical industrial parks. Build green chemical industrial parks, using the circular transformation of these parks as a starting point to achieve comprehensive utilization of resources and energy. Through circular transformation, the park establishes a \"macro-cycle\" for the sharing and recycling of infrastructure, utility systems, and public services; a \"meso-cycle\" for the recycling of energy and materials among enterprises; and a \"micro-cycle\" for energy and water conservation as well as comprehensive utilization within individual enterprises. As a result, the structure of resources and energy, as well as their utilization efficiency, are continuously improved. An important aspect of making the park greener is implementing \"Responsible Care\". Chemical industrial parks should adopt a development philosophy based on \"shared consensus,\" establish a responsibility and care system aimed at ensuring that surrounding communities can maximize the benefits resulting from the park’s development, and deepen joint development with adjacent areas. Only in this way can the public come to view chemical and industrial enterprises in a more positive light, thereby fostering and strengthening the positive forces driving industry development. In the future, chemical industrial parks will actively practice \"Responsible Care,\" and holding open days, science popularization events, and similar activities will become the norm. Acceleration of world-class processes The Party’s *report clearly states that it is necessary to develop several world-class manufacturing clusters. Building world-class chemical industrial parks is an inevitable requirement for China’s industries to move up the global value chain in terms of spatial organization and geographical layout; it is also the ambitious goal pursued for the green development of such industrial parks. To establish around 10 globally influential world-class advanced manufacturing petrochemical bases with an output value of over 100 billion each, and to develop 20 petrochemical \"green parks\" as well as 20 \"smart chemical park demonstration areas\" – these are the goals set by our Petrochemical Federation for the current stage of development of such parks. Many industrial parks are planning their development from an international perspective, striving to be pioneers in creating \"world-class chemical clusters\" or \"world-class chemical parks\". Even the biggest trees grow from tiny seeds; to achieve this grand goal, we need to explore actively and draw on experience, seeking reasonable paths that suit China’s national conditions. In 2019, in accordance with the newly revised \"Planning and Layout Plan for the Petrochemical Industry\" issued by the State Council, chemical industrial parks that meet the required conditions will aim to become world-class large-scale petrochemical hubs. Following the principles of \"scientific planning, rational layout, industrial coordination, and standardized management\", these parks will strive to become pilot sites for world-class chemical industrial parks and clusters, thereby promoting the efficient development of the petrochemical industry and accelerating progress toward becoming world-class petrochemical bases. A standardized system is taking shape. The standardized construction and management of chemical industrial parks rely on a sound standardized system as a foundation. To address the issue of lack of standards in the development of chemical industrial parks, with the support of relevant ministries and agencies as well as the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, our park management committee follows the principle of \"developing those that are ready first and establishing new ones subsequently.\" By working closely with key chemical industrial parks across the country, research institutions, and technical support organizations, we are working to establish a standardization system for chemical industrial parks. The first **standard regarding chemical industrial parks, namely the “Regulations on the Management of Public Utility Tunnels in Chemical Industrial Parks”, will come into effect officially on April 1, 2019. This standard is of great significance for strengthening the standardized management of public utility tunnels in China’s chemical parks, enhancing their capabilities in the safe transportation of hazardous chemicals, risk prevention and control, and scientific management. It will also serve as an important milestone in promoting the standardized development of chemical parks across the country. Next, three industry standards namely the \"General Guidelines for the Evaluation of Green Petrochemical Parks,\" the \"Construction Standards for Parking Lots for Hazardous Materials Transport Vehicles in Chemical Parks,\" and the \"Construction Standards for Emergency Facilities (Pools) in Chemical Parks\" will be submitted for review in 2019. At the same time, the \"Evaluation Guidelines for Green Petrochemical Parks\" are expected to become an industry standard. The development of two **standards, namely the “Guidelines for the Construction of Smart Chemical Parks” and the “Guidelines for the Comprehensive Evaluation of Chemical Parks”, commissioned by the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is progressing in an orderly manner. We will also establish the group standard \"Guidelines for the Development and Construction of Chemical Parks\" to identify the standards and regulations that are urgently needed in such parks, thereby creating a standardized system for chemical parks. As an effort that the entire industry is currently focusing on, the development of a standardized system for these parks has just begun. The development of smart technologies is in full swing. Fully implementing the smart upgrade of chemical industrial parks, and strengthening the deep integration of industrialization and informatization, in order to fundamentally improve the safety, environmental protection, and green development levels of these parks, is an urgent need for their development at present. Since the Sino-Petrochemical Federation took the lead in establishing the first batch of \"pilot demonstration units for smart chemical parks\" in 2016, there has been a surge in efforts to develop smart chemical parks across the country, with positive progress being made. In 2018, the second batch of \"Pilot and Demonstration (Establishment) Units for Smart Chemical Industrial Parks in China\" was announced, with 17 parks including the Shanghai Chemical Industry Economic and Technological Development Zone, Taixing Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province, and Rudong Coastal Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu making the list. This year, a new batch of chemical industrial parks will become \"pilot demonstration units for smart chemical parks\". The **guidelines for the development of smart chemical parks**, which serve as a basis for guiding the smart transformation of such parks, will also be finalized, thus kicking off the acceleration of the smartization process in China’s chemical industrial parks. As the pilot projects for smart chemical parks advance, the concept of \"smartness\" pursued by these parks has undergone a profound transformation in terms of approach, with greater emphasis placed on ecological principles as the core foundation. In the future, chemical industrial parks will rely on next-generation information and communication technologies, taking into account both short- and medium-term benefits as well as the requirements of sustainable development. They will develop specialized, integrated system platforms that enable rapid and accurate intelligent responses to key issues such as safety, environmental protection, energy conservation, and emergency situations. This will help improve the environmental quality of the parks, enhance their intrinsic safety, strengthen their comprehensive supervision capabilities, and reduce business costs for enterprises, thereby achieving goals such as more refined management, scientific decision-making, and efficient services. The development of chemical industrial parks since the 13th Five-Year Plan period shows that the transformation and upgrading of China’s petroleum and chemical industry is inseparable from chemical industrial parks; green development also relies on them, and the transition from a major player to a leading force in the global petroleum and chemical industry is even more dependent on such parks. China’s chemical industrial parks have initially entered a path of healthy development, with their construction progressing steadily toward standardization, sustainability, and intensification. In the future, chemical industrial parks should seize the challenges and opportunities associated with high-quality development, taking on the dual role of advancing their own growth and promoting the green and high-quality development of China’s petrochemical industry. (Yang Ting, Secretary-General of the Chemical Park Working Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation)