A petrochemical industrial base in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Ningbo announced at a press conference on Sept 22 that it will invest about 400 billion yuan ($57.97 billion) into a number of projects involving new chemical materials throughout the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) in an effort to develop a world-class green petrochemical industrial cluster in the city.

The output value of the city's green petrochemical industry is expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan within this time.

The green petrochemical industry is among Ningbo's key sectors and has the potential to grow to a world-class level, said Tong Honggen, deputy head of the Ningbo municipal bureau of economy and information technology. 

The city's petrochemical enterprises are mostly located in Zhenhai district, Beilun district, and the Daxie Development Zone.

Ningbo boasts a complete petrochemical industrial chain and is home to over 280 petrochemical enterprises above designated size with a combined annual output value of 360.97 billion yuan, ranking high among the seven petrochemical industrial centers in China.

Over the next five years, the city plans to extend its industrial chain, switching from the production of general chemical products to high-end new chemical materials.

In addition, it plans to ramp up innovation by partnering with research institutes such as the Sinopec Research Institute of New Materials and the Ningbo Innovation Center of the Shanghai Organic Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Meanwhile, efforts will also be made to help companies maximize resource utilization and slash production costs.