Promote the renewal of old petrochemical and chemical facilities

The petrochemical and chemical industry is of vital importance to economic growth and the security of the industrial chain. Recently, seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a plan to promote the renewal and transformation of old facilities (2026-2029) and facilitate high-quality development of the industry.

There are over 27,000 large-scale enterprises in China's petrochemical and chemical industry. Some of the early facilities have low standards, backward processes and insufficient automation, and there are problems such as safety, environment, layout and efficiency. Accelerating the renewal and transformation of old facilities is an effective way to eliminate risks from the root, enhance technological levels and cultivate new quality productivity.

Fully complete the determined tasks of upgrading and transforming old facilities and establish a long-term improvement mechanism. The specific tasks include: rolling investigation and assessment, formulating renovation plans, promoting quality improvement and upgrading, optimizing project management, doing a good job in acceptance management, and strengthening standard guidance.

The central petrochemical enterprises have a large stock of old facilities and an urgent need for renovation. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council has guided central enterprises to adhere to the principle of making reforms as soon as possible and as much as possible, conduct comprehensive investigations, formulate plans on a case-by-case basis for each enterprise, and accelerate the process of "upgrading large enterprises and phasing out small ones, and replacing old ones with new ones". From 2024 to 2025, over 280 billion yuan was invested in equipment renewal, achieving remarkable results. The next step will be to encourage central enterprises to carry out renewal and transformation with greater efforts and at a faster pace.

It mainly focuses on the traditional chemical industry. In 2025, four departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will organize local authorities to conduct a comprehensive assessment of old petrochemical and chemical facilities that have been in operation for over 20 years. They will compare these facilities with standards related to industry, safety, environmental protection, and energy consumption, and analyze the needs for renewal and transformation one by one. The current investigation work has been completed. A total of over 1,600 sets of old facilities have been identified, among which more than 600 need to be updated and renovated, mainly concentrated in the traditional chemical industry.