Recently, the intermediate handover of the 600000 ton/year metallocene linear low-density/high-density polyethylene unit in the 1.5 million ton/year ethylene and downstream deep processing consortium project of Sinopec Fujian Gulei has been successfully completed, making it the largest single series unit of its kind in the world; On April 22-24, 2026, the project organized an expert review meeting for the "Trial Production Plan", which was successfully approved; On April 26, 2026, the 550000 ton/year polypropylene plant of the project was successfully completed and handed over.

Project sprint production stage

Recently, the Zhongsha Gulei project has achieved multiple key breakthroughs, marking the overall transition of the project from the construction and installation stage to the preparation stage for production, and striving to achieve the goal of being officially put into operation in August 2026. This project is a key energy project of cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, with a total investment of approximately 44.8 billion yuan. It is also the largest single investment Sino foreign joint venture project in Fujian Province so far. The project is located in the Gulei Petrochemical Base in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, and is jointly built by Saudi Basic Industries Company and Fujian Energy Petrochemical Group with a shareholding ratio of 51:49.

Significant core advantages of the project

The Zhongsha Gulei project is centered around a 1.5 million ton/year steam cracking ethylene plant, which does not produce ethylene products alone. Instead, it synchronously lays out two major production lines, ethylene and propylene, and is equipped with 14 sets of downstream deep processing units to create a fully closed-loop production mode of "cracking output on-site conversion by-product full utilization", completely eliminating the additional costs of raw material export and long-distance transportation of intermediate products, while avoiding supply chain instability risks. Ethylene industry chain: Layout of 10/1 million tons/year EO/EG, 400000 tons/year HDPE, 600000 tons/year metallocene mLLDPE/HDPE, 50000 tons/year hexene-1 units, covering multiple categories such as general polyolefins, high-end specialty polyethylene, and high-end copolymer monomers.

Acrylic industry chain: Two sets of polypropylene plants with a capacity of 400000 tons/year and 550000 tons/year will be built, with a total production capacity of 950000 tons/year, 250000 tons/year, 250000 tons/year, 250000 tons/year, 270000 tons/year, and 290000 tons/year of polycarbonate plants. The high-end engineering plastics complete industry chain of "propylene phenol ketone bisphenol A polycarbonate" has been successfully connected.

Efficient utilization of by-product resources: Equipped with 910000 tons/year cracking gasoline hydrogenation, 220000 tons/year butadiene extraction, 56000 tons/year butene-1, 570000 tons/year aromatic extraction units, all by-products generated during the cracking production process, such as C4, C5, cracking gasoline, etc., are processed and converted into high value-added products, achieving 100% efficient utilization of resources without inefficient material discharge or resource waste.

The project has established a complete industrial chain layout, with ethylene leading the way, polyolefin and EO/EG midstream support, engineering plastics and special monomer terminal landing, and carbon four carbon five aromatic hydrocarbon by-product value-added. This is not a simple device stacking, but an integrated industrial system that realizes complementary raw materials, energy supply, logistics interconnection, and collaborative waste management, forming extremely high industry barriers.

In addition, Saudi SABIC, which holds 51% of the shares, can provide stable supply of low-cost naphtha and light hydrocarbon resources from the Middle East for the project, while also exporting world-class production technology and mature operational experience; Fujian Nenghua Group provides local park carriers, policy support, market resources, and complete supply chain support, forming a triple advantage of "overseas low-cost raw materials+domestic super large consumer market+one-stop park support", and building long-term cost competition barriers for the project.

The significance of diverse values is profound

Economic value: The project has an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons of ethylene, which can drive an investment volume of nearly 200 billion yuan in upstream and downstream supporting industries, effectively reducing China's dependence on imported high-end chemical products. It has important strategic value in ensuring national energy security and stabilizing the domestic petrochemical industry supply chain.

Technical value: The project can fill multiple gaps in the field of high-end chemical materials in China. With 19 globally leading technologies, the energy utilization efficiency and environmental emission indicators have reached international advanced levels, laying a solid technological foundation for the low-carbon and green development of the entire petrochemical industry chain in China.

Strategic value: the project is a benchmark project for the deep integration of the the Belt and Road Initiative and the Saudi Arabia "2030 Vision", which further deepens the international development layout of Gulei Petrochemical Base and helps Fujian accelerate the construction of the core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Keywords: China Saudi Arabia Cooperation, Ethylene Project

Industrial value: Ethylene is known as the "mother of petrochemical industry" and is the core basic raw material for midstream chemical products. At present, the annual production capacity of ethylene in Fujian Province is 2.9 million tons. After the Zhongsha Gulei project is put into operation, it will significantly enhance the regional petrochemical industry level, promote the breakthrough of Gulei Petrochemical Base from a single industry to the coordinated development of the entire chain, and help build a world-class high-end, intelligent, and green petrochemical industry base.Editor/Gong Ziwei