Industrial civilization and ecological civilization complement each other, and a world-class green petrochemical base is rising along the shore of the East China Sea.
Located on the south bank of Hangzhou Bay in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, this modern petrochemical base covers several square kilometers and stands out prominently. It features dense towers, tanks and intricate pipeline networks, alongside a 15,000-square-meter egret natural habitat. Flocks of egrets dance gracefully among production facilities, serving as a vivid embodiment of harmonious coexistence between industry and nature.
This facility belongs to Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company (Zhenhai Refining & Chemical), an extra-large integrated refining and chemical enterprise with a crude oil processing capacity of 40 million tons per year. Founded as Zhejiang Refinery in 1975, the company has undergone nearly 50 years of development and grown into one of China’s largest manufacturers of petroleum refining and petrochemical products.
At the polyolefin automated three-dimensional warehouse of Zhenhai Refining & Chemical, newly manufactured products are automatically packaged on production lines, transported to the three-dimensional warehouse via pallet rails, retrieved and loaded onto trucks automatically by robots upon customer requests, delivering fully unmanned operation throughout the whole process.
Such achievements stem from the company’s innovative model of "Industrial Brain + Future Factory". The enterprise has built the largest 5G private network in the petrochemical sector, and widely applies emerging digital technologies including AI, Beidou Navigation Satellite System and 3D digital delivery to expand diverse "5G+" application scenarios.
Leveraging intelligent optimization software, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical has launched molecule-level management, refining process optimization down to individual petroleum molecules, substantially boosting the value and utilization efficiency of each petroleum molecule. Its equipment health management center monitors the real-time operating status of 15,000 rotating equipment units and 101,000 static equipment units around the clock.
As a petrochemical enterprise, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical has made persistent heavy investments in environmental protection. It has upgraded the traditional fraction management mode in oil refining to molecule management, continuously carried out technological innovation and process optimization, and steadily lifted resource utilization efficiency and clean production standards.
In March 2024, the Egret Park of Zhenhai Refining & Chemical was listed in the second batch of Zhejiang Birdwatching Destinations. Originally a small woodland covering only 2,200 square meters, the habitat has been expanded to 15,000 square meters after ecological protection and renovation, forming a stable natural home for egrets.
In terms of environmental protection technologies, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical has independently developed domestic large-scale waste alkali oxidation technology in cooperation with multiple partners, breaking overseas technological monopolies. In September 2024, its self-developed -40 ℃ bio-based transformer oil project achieved a historic domestic breakthrough in this sector.
Closely aligned with the characteristics of the petrochemical industry and relying on independent innovation, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical focuses on safety, environmental protection and high-end product development to build a future factory for the petrochemical industry. It has secured key generic technological breakthroughs in green environmental protection and intelligent petrochemical manufacturing, filling gaps in the global and domestic petrochemical industry.
Researchers at the Sinopec Ningbo New Materials Research Institute devote themselves to the R&D of Polybutene-1, known as "plastic gold". In 2024, the first batch of 30 tons of mass-produced Polybutene-1 pellets was officially applied as high-grade underfloor heating pipe raw materials.
The project "Development and Application of High Voltage Resistant Cross-linked Polyethylene Cable Insulation Material", jointly undertaken by Zhenhai Refining & Chemical and multiple partners, has completed the full transformation from laboratory research to commercial products, filling the domestic market gap. In 2024, the company rolled out a full lineup of anti-tiger stripe products, capable of replacing equivalent imported overseas products.
As the leading petrochemical enterprise in Zhejiang Province, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical delivers remarkable contributions to local economic development. It manages terminals with an annual handling capacity of approximately 120 million tons and tank storage capacity of around 18 million cubic meters, with total assets exceeding RMB 100 billion.
Since producing its first batch of gasoline in 1978, the company has accumulated total profits and taxes of more than RMB 279 billion, equivalent to funding the construction of 10 medium-sized aircraft carriers for the country. Its refined oil supply accounts for roughly 70% of Zhejiang Province’s total demand, acting as a critical economic engine sustaining Zhejiang’s economic operation and growth.
Looking ahead, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical is pressing ahead to hit its targets by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period: 40 million tons of refining capacity, 4 million tons of ethylene capacity and an annual output value of RMB 300 billion.
The ongoing Phase II project of Zhenhai Base will help construct China’s source of original petrochemical technologies and an industrial cluster focusing on high value-added products. By implementing the "1366" high-quality development system, the company is striving to build a higher-standard world-class, high-tech and integrated green petrochemical base.
Along the East China Sea coast, this industrial complex hailed as a "petrochemical forest" is writing a new chapter of green development. Amid flying egrets, an intelligent, eco-friendly and high-end world-class petrochemical base is taking shape, serving as a prime model illustrating the high-quality development of China’s petrochemical industry.
