Xinjiang’s coal chemical industry sees further acceleration

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Recently, in order to implement the various directives set forth by the autonomous region for promoting investment and stabilizing economic growth, the Development and Reform Commission of the autonomous region held a coordination meeting on the advancement of coal chemical projects on the morning of June 4, in collaboration with the Regional Environmental Protection Department, the Department of Land and Resources, the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Department of Water Resources, and the Coal Industry Administration. The meeting heard reports from the development and reform commissions of four regions – Ili Prefecture, Changji Prefecture, Tacheng Region, and Altay Region – as well as from the Jundong Management Committee. Reports were also presented on 13 key coal chemical projects, including the Su Xin He Feng project with a capacity of 4 billion cubic meters per year for coal-to-gas production, the Ili Xintian project with a capacity of 2 billion cubic meters per year for coal-to-gas production, and the Yitai Ili project with a capacity of 1 million tons per year for coal-to-oil production. These reports covered the progress of coal chemical projects in these areas and within these enterprises from January to May, the existing problems, and the plans for future actions. Zhang Chunlin, Director of the Autonomous Region’s Development and Reform Commission and Head of the Office for Assisting Xinjiang, emphasized that everyone should understand the current situation and further strengthen their confidence in developing the coal chemical industry. **The National Development and Reform Commission restarted the process and approved in one go the energy efficiency assessment reports for three coal-to-gas projects, including Xinjiang Longyu Energy’s Zhundong project with a capacity of 4 billion cubic meters per year. Coal-to-gas production in Xinjiang is part of the integrated development of coal, electricity, chemicals, and heat generation; it has low construction costs, giving the industry a strong competitive advantage. With Xinjiang launching the Clean Xinjiang project, it is imperative to achieve clean and efficient conversion of coal. There is a market for the development of coal-to-gas and coal-to-oil industries, and their potential is enormous. Especially under the current overall requirements of **streamlining administration and delegating powers, as well as promoting investment and stabilizing economic growth, there is a rare opportunity to accelerate the implementation of major projects such as coal chemical industries in the autonomous region. It is hoped that all participating units will attach great importance to this matter and make every effort to speed up the preliminary work for coal-to-gas projects in accordance with the arrangements set forth by the Party Committee of the autonomous region and **. Director Zhang Chunlin demanded that, first, the relevant departments in the autonomous region should cooperate with the regional authorities in advancing the environmental impact assessment processes for coal chemical projects, and make every effort to secure support from the Ministry of Environmental Protection for the development of such projects in the autonomous region. Secondly, all relevant prefectures and cities must attach great importance to this, make every effort to implement the total water use control plan, and accelerate the approval of the water resource assessment reports for various projects. Third, the Development and Reform Commission of the autonomous region must make further efforts to thoroughly implement the requirements for the five energy-saving measures, and accelerate the approval process for energy-saving assessments of coal-to-gas and coal-to-oil projects. Fourth, the relevant prefectures and cities should establish and improve mechanisms for competitive elimination, and provide full support to enterprises that are willing to take action, capable of doing so, and able to achieve results. Fifth, efforts will be made to strengthen the monthly monitoring of major projects. The Development and Reform Commission of the autonomous region, in conjunction with relevant departments, will hold coordination meetings for coal chemical projects every two weeks, aiming to ensure that the construction of these projects gets underway as well as that the preliminary work is completed properly.