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There is always a force that drives the people of Daqing forward; there is always a belief that thrives in their hearts. In May 2016, when **** inspected Heilongjiang, he devised a targeted solution for Daqing’s declining economy: by focusing on the transformation from an oil-dependent city to one with diversified economic activities, it was possible to promote the deep processing of oil and facilitate the development and transformation of this \"oil city\". Over the past two years, Daqing has kept this historical mandate in mind. Under the strong leadership of the provincial Party committee and government, it has focused on economic development and pursued transformation and growth, continuously adjusting its development methods and economic structure. As a result, the economy has followed a U-shaped trajectory, shifting from rapid growth to slower growth, from negative growth to positive growth, from instability to stability, and finally from stability to further improvement. In the first quarter of this year, the \"oil-driven, chemical-end\" industry led the way, helping to push the GDP of the Daqing region to its fastest growth rate in recent years at 3.2%. Daqing’s biggest “original” product. Deep reflection leads to greater success; action is taken only after careful planning. ****During his inspection of Heilongjiang, he emphasized the need to focus on three key tasks: upgrading existing well-known brands, deeply developing original brands, and fostering the growth of new brands. As an important national base for oil and petrochemical production, Daqing has supplied a total of over 2.34 billion tons of petroleum products. The most significant of these products is crude oil, and the region possesses all the necessary infrastructure to develop industries that process oil at various stages. Daqing’s confidence and strength stem from its unique resource endowments. “During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the crude oil production of the Daqing Oilfield will remain above 30 million tons, while natural gas production will reach 4.5 billion cubic meters, ensuring an ample supply of oil and gas resources. Daqing has an oil refining capacity of 18.2 million tons, with over 250 major petrochemical production units. Its production capacity for ethylene, polyolefins, and oilfield chemicals is the highest in the country. There are 77 petrochemical enterprises of a certain scale there, resulting in an integrated refining and chemical processing industry structure. The technical framework in place is mature and comprehensive, and the scale of this industry ranks among the top in the nation. At present, the Daqing petrochemical industry is capable of producing more than 1,000 grades of products across 200 varieties in 8 major series, including fuel refined oils, lubricants, synthetic resins, acrylic fibers, and synthetic rubbers. The central state-owned enterprises based in Qingdao have over 50,000 high-quality, professional researchers, managers, and technical workers. There are 12 research and development institutions such as Northeast Petroleum University and Daqing Chemical Industry Research Institute; these institutions boast more than 200 doctors and over 1,200 masters, resulting in a rich pool of talent in the petrochemical field. The three specialized chemical parks – the Hongwei Park, Xinghua Park, and Linyuan Park – have strong capacity, with well-developed supporting facilities such as water supply, gas supply, heating, power supply, sewage treatment, solid waste disposal, and public utility ducts. How can an “old tree” sprout “new branches”? Identifying the problem is key. Analysis, argumentation, assessment… The first problem is that the amount of Daqing crude oil that is processed is insufficient. Over the past 5 years, the average annual processing volume of Daqing crude oil has been 12.86 million tons, which represents 32% of the total output of Daqing crude oil; less than 35% of this crude oil is processed locally, meaning that the resource advantages available do not get fully converted into economic advantages. Problem two: Refining enterprises are scattered; the largest single enterprise for processing Daqing crude oil has a processing capacity of only 6.5 million tons per unit, and there is no integration or optimized utilization of raw materials among these enterprises. Issue 3: There is a mismatch between oil refining and the chemical industry; the development of upstream refining and downstream deep processing is not well coordinated, resulting in ineffective utilization of production capacity. Problem four: State-owned enterprises dominate while private enterprises are weaker; among the 30 petrochemical companies with annual output values of over 100 million yuan, 92% are state-owned. Problem 5: No industrial clusters have yet been formed; the enterprises within existing petrochemical parks have weak interconnections, short product chains, insufficient coordination among upstream, midstream, and downstream industries, and inadequate clustered development. Targeted efforts, onward on the journey. The seventh plenary session of the 11th Provincial Party Committee, held on June 3, 2016, stated that “oil, coal, grain, and timber are important resource advantages for our province; however, due to insufficient deep processing, these advantages have turned into weaknesses, but those weaknesses also represent potential.” It was emphasized that “we should focus on ‘processing oil at its source and utilizing its by-products’, improve the capacity for deep processing of oil and natural gas, and keep the industrial chains and related industries within the province.” Make use of strengths to overcome weaknesses, and use strengths to compensate for shortcomings. Daqing faces another major test. Formulating a grand vision and strategies for the transformation and upgrading of the oil and chemical industry – this is the political task assigned to Daqing by ****; it represents the historical responsibility bestowed upon Daqing in the new era; and it is the only path for Daqing to achieve transformation and development as a resource-based city. The municipal Party committee, the municipal government, and the central state-owned enterprises based in Daqing worked together closely. Through multiple rounds of expert discussions, exchanges of ideas, and the establishment of common understandings, they developed the \"Daqing ‘Oil-to-Chemicals’ Industry Implementation Plan\", setting the goals of becoming an \"important production base for ethylene and aromatics in the Northeast region\" as well as \"the world’s largest production base for oilfield chemicals\". On August 18, 2017, Zhang Qingwei, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, presided over a special meeting to implement ****’s important instructions regarding the “oil at the beginning and chemicals at the end” approach; agencies such as the Development and Reform Commission, the Energy Bureau, and CNPC were invited to attend. The meeting, at which the \"Breakdown of Key Tasks for Implementing the ‘Oil-to-Chemicals’ Industry in Daqing\" was approved, marks the fact that the development of this industry has now been elevated to a provincial-level strategy. “\"Producing less refined oil products and more chemical raw materials, while establishing a diversified supply system for raw materials\" has become the guiding principle and main focus. Increase the allocation of Daqing crude oil and raise the local conversion rate of this crude oil, so as to support the sustainable development of downstream industries through a diversified range of raw materials; optimize existing resources by upgrading current refineries to achieve large-scale production and diversify the structure of petrochemical products; focus on expanding production by vigorously developing aromatics and new chemical materials, thereby enhancing the supply capacity for high-end chemical products; emphasize uniqueness by meeting the changing demands for petrochemical products in related industries and new fields in the Northeast region, and supporting the structural adjustment and upgrading of sectors such as agriculture, equipment manufacturing, light industry, building materials, military industry, and new energy within the region, by providing more high-performance chemicals and materials; adopt an integrated approach by developing the Hongwei, Xinghua, and Linyuan chemical parks, encouraging manufacturing enterprises to concentrate there, and gradually establishing a coordinated development framework. Driven by key projects, a “roadmap” and “timeline” are established. Expand the “oil-based” components to ensure the availability of raw materials for the “chemical-based” components. Priority will be given to implementing key projects such as the restructuring, transformation, and upgrading of the refining operations at Daqing Petrochemical Company; the catalytic thermal cracking of 5.5 million tons of heavy oil at Daqing Lianyi; the comprehensive utilization of distillate oil imported from Russia by Kaideljin; the comprehensive utilization of 800,000 tons of liquefied gas; and the expansion of the processing capacity for 1.5 million tons of heavy oil at Daqing Hongwei Qinghua. By 2025, the crude oil processing volume in Daqing will increase from 13.15 million tons in 2016 to 23.2 million tons. There will be significant changes in the product structure: the output rate of refined oils will drop from the current 59.9% to 46.6%. The production of basic raw materials such as ethylene, propylene, base lubricants, benzene, toluene, xylene, mixed aromatics, and ethylene glycol will increase substantially, as the industrial chain continues to expand, thereby highlighting the integration of refining and chemical manufacturing. Refine the “end-stage processing” process to develop three industrial clusters: one for chemical new materials on a million-ton scale, one for fine chemicals on a million-ton scale, and one for rubber and plastics on a five-million-ton scale. Priority is given to the development of 17 projects, including Daqing Gaoxin Xinghua Chemical’s 200,000-ton capacity for polycarbonate production, 200,000 tons of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and 100,000 tons of isoprene rubber; Daqing Haoqing’s 100,000-ton capacity for methyl methacrylate production; Daqing Gaoxin Lihua’s 200,000-ton capacity for carbon dioxide-based fluid used in oil displacement; Daqing Huake’s 200,000-ton capacity for the comprehensive utilization of C5 and C9 compounds; Daqing Oilfield Chemical’s 30,000-ton capacity for DS series salt-resistant polymers; as well as Daqing Lianyi’s million-ton capacities for polyolefins and polyesters. These efforts aim to continue expanding the scale of the petrochemical industry. By 2025 as well, the chemical new materials industry cluster on a million-ton scale will see an increase in 13 main product categories, including new display materials, carbon fiber, new building functional materials, and medical and health protection materials, with production reaching 670,000 tons. More than 60% of these products can be combined with other raw materials to extend the industrial chain and produce end products, thereby boosting the end-market demand. The fine chemicals industry cluster on a million-ton scale will see an increase in 7 main product categories such as new, efficient, and low-pollution chemicals for drilling, oil extraction, transportation, improving oil recovery rates, and plastic plasticizers, with production reaching 340,000 tons. By extending into higher-end segments of the industrial chain, this can help advance the development of fine chemicals to higher quality levels. The rubber and plastics industry cluster on a 5 million-ton scale will see an increase in 7 main product categories including automotive chemicals, agricultural chemicals, food-grade packaging materials, and pipes, with production reaching 2.73 million tons, which can serve the automotive, agricultural, and construction material markets in the Northeast region. Adhering to the principle of starting from reality and combining short-term and long-term goals, Daqing has fully launched efforts to develop industries that focus on oil production at the beginning and chemical processing at the end of the value chain. There is no need for a whip to spur them on; each era has its own mission, and each generation bears its own responsibilities. Heilongjiang is developing an industry that focuses on oil production at both the beginning and end of the process, with Daqing serving as both its base and its main operational area. Developing the \"oil-based and chemical-oriented\" industries is a major political task, a significant economic responsibility, and an important historical duty for the people of Daqing in the new era. Care, opportunities, policies, support... historically favor Daqing. **Relevant ministries and commissions such as the National Development and Reform Commission, along with CNPC, have provided strong support, enabling one substantive breakthrough after another in many policies that had previously been impossible to advance. The Party secretary of the province and the governor personally took charge of planning and promoting these efforts, while the executive vice governor in charge of related tasks made a special trip to Daqing to handle matters on site. On March 26 of this year, Governor Wang Wentao made his first stop on his inspection tour in Longjiang at Daqing, where he called for further expansion of the industrial chain, with the aim of making full use of petrochemical raw materials and developing the downstream processing sectors in order to boost the development of the upstream oil-related industries as well. “Who else but me can take on this task? The municipal party committee, the municipal government, and the central state-owned enterprises based in Qingdao have worked closely together to identify four key industrial chains: ethylene, propylene, carbon tetrafluoride, and aromatics. A mechanism involving dedicated personnel, special teams, and clear responsibilities has been established to drive the transformation and upgrading of the petrochemical industry with the full effort of the entire city. In just two years, the enterprises in Daqing have worked together in unison, with supervision through task charts and steady progress, enabling the long-awaited achievement in oil production to make a historic breakthrough; meanwhile, the much-anticipated progress in refining is ready to take off. In 2017, the petrochemical industry in the city that met certain size criteria generated main business revenue of 98.17 billion yuan and an added value of 28.04 billion yuan. To date this year, two major events have marked historic progress toward a successful conclusion. One is the successful implementation of the Daqing Petrochemical Refining Structure Adjustment, Transformation, and Upgrading Project. On March 19, the **Development and Reform Commission officially included the project in the ‘Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Scheme’. On March 28, the provincial Development and Reform Commission approved the project. On April 27, PetroChina Group gave approval for the project’s feasibility study. On April 28, the provincial environmental protection department approved the project’s environmental impact assessment. Currently, the preliminary design is in progress, and construction is expected to begin in June once approval is granted by CNPC. Another aspect is the successive implementation of a number of major projects. Of the 3 \"oil-front\" projects and 28 \"chemical-back\" projects that are scheduled for priority development this year, 4 sub-projects related to the restructuring and optimization of the refining operations at Daqing Petrochemical have already been approved in advance, while 13 other projects, including the 5.5 million-ton catalytic thermal cracking of heavy oil at Daqing Lianyi, have commenced construction; a total investment of 400 million yuan has been made so far. Make your moves carefully, plan each step carefully; time waits for no one – seize the opportunity. Just a few days ago, Daqing further finalized its key priorities for the “oil-to-chemicals” transformation initiative: local enterprises will work together to secure necessary support for the establishment of a **-level petrochemical industry base in Daqing, with Daqing as a whole being included in the **Petrochemical Industry Planning and Layout Plan. This will grant qualified local petrochemical companies the right to import crude oil as well as the authority to use such imported crude oil. Efforts will be accelerated to develop plans for the chemical industrial park and its infrastructure, with plans for environmental protection, safety, and utility services being formulated promptly. The spatial layout of the industry will also be carefully planned to enhance its capacity. Special attention will be given to advancing key projects, taking advantage of the optimal timing for their commencement, assigning responsible persons for each project, regularly identifying any difficulties or problems, and providing timely coordination to resolve them. Professionalism will be emphasized in attracting investment, with practical efforts made to engage with enterprises rather than conducting superficial interactions. Investment promotion activities will focus on the 20 “chemical conversion” projects related to the four new industrial chains that rely on raw materials derived from Daqing’s petrochemical projects. A petrochemical industry fund with a total value of 4 billion yuan is set to be established as soon as possible. … With these “benchmarks” in place and the “flag” high, progress will continue. In the new era, the people of Daqing are motivated to work hard on their own, taking practical actions to promote high-quality development in the oil and chemical industries, thereby demonstrating their commitment and responsibility in this new period.