Beijing. A seemingly ordinary signing made an unusual mark in the history of Chinese materials. The two major state-owned enterprises, Dongfang Electric and Sinopec, are holding hands together and targeting a field that has long been monopolized by foreign countries - carbon fiber. This material, known as black gold, once prevented Chinese wind turbine blades from turning and hydrogen tanks from being produced. Now, the collaboration between the two giants is rewriting this situation.

Instant strategic complementarity

Although Sinopec is the leading unit of the national carbon fiber research and development consortium, with the advantage of acrylonitrile raw materials and the industrialization technology of 48K and 60K large fiber bundles, and ranks among the top in the world in terms of patent numbers, it is struggling to find enough application scenarios to digest production capacity. With technology, products have been created, but who will use them and where they will be used have become the real problems facing us.

Dongfang Electric is exactly the opposite. As a leading global manufacturer of clean energy equipment, this company has a deep layout in the fields of wind power and hydrogen energy. The wind turbine blades are getting larger and the demand for hydrogen storage tanks is becoming increasingly urgent, leading to a growing demand for high-end carbon fiber. But for a long time, stable supply of high-end carbon fiber has always been a challenge, either relying on imports and being controlled by others, or domestic products with substandard performance cannot be used.

One lacks scenes, one lacks materials. In the autumn of 2025, both sides sat at the negotiating table. Sinopec has technology and production capacity, while Dongfang Electric has demand and scenarios. This cooperation carries natural complementary genes from the beginning.

The breakthrough of 3D collaboration

On November 21, 2025, at the Central Enterprise Specialization Integration Promotion Conference organized by the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, Sinopec, Dongfang Electric, and the government of Wushen Banner, Inner Mongolia officially signed a framework agreement. The choice of signing location in Wushen Banner, Inner Mongolia is not accidental. The abundant green power resources here can precisely support the green production of carbon fiber, and the annual production of 30000 tons of large fiber bundles carbon fiber project that Sinopec has started construction is also located here.

At the technical level, both parties have formed a joint innovation team. People from Sinopec went into the laboratory of Dongfang Electric to see what kind of carbon fiber is needed for wind turbine blades; People from Dongfang Electric are stationed at Sinopec's production line to debug product parameters on site. In the past, research and development was done behind closed doors, but now it revolves around application scenarios. Industry, academia, research, and application have truly become intertwined.

At the production capacity level, Sinopec has opened up supply channels to Dongfang Electric, prioritizing the guarantee of raw material demand for core businesses such as wind power and hydrogen energy. Dongfang Electric promises to prioritize the use of Sinopec's carbon fiber products and provide a large-scale testing ground for new technologies. Both sides have avoided redundant construction, greatly improving the efficiency of state-owned capital allocation.

At the capital level, both parties take it further. We plan to jointly invest and establish a joint venture company to achieve shared benefits and risks. Dongfang Electric can not only obtain stable material supply, but also share the equity benefits of the carbon fiber project. In the future, it is not ruled out that these assets will be injected into the platform of listed companies, allowing the enterprise value and market value to increase synchronously.

Unexpected gains from the hydrogen energy chess game

In December 2025, Dongfang Electric and Sinopec jointly established Dongfang Electric Petrochemical Hydrogen Energy (Zigong) Co., Ltd. with Zigong Anhydrous Port Investment and Development Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 87.8 million yuan. Dongfang Boiler, a subsidiary of Dongfang Electric, holds 51% of the shares, while Sinopec Sales Co., Ltd. holds 39%.

This is the third collaboration between the two sides in the field of hydrogen energy. Previously, joint ventures between Liangshan and Jiangxi have been established, and the map of the Chengdu Chongqing hydrogen corridor is becoming increasingly clear. Dongfang Electric provides technology and equipment for the entire hydrogen energy industry chain, while Sinopec relies on its nationwide gas station network to promote the large-scale refueling and application of hydrogen energy. Carbon fiber and hydrogen energy are two fronts that support and promote each other in synergy. 

Today, Dongfang Electric is transforming from a simple equipment manufacturer to a comprehensive solution provider. Today's Sinopec is moving from a traditional petrochemical enterprise to a comprehensive energy enterprise. The collaboration between two state-owned enterprises not only solves the technical problem of carbon fiber bottleneck, but also draws a mark for Chinese enterprises in the new energy industry.Editor/Gao Xue