Petrochemical Joint Venture on Daya Bay: No Damage to EnvironmentThe petrochemical joint venture on Daya Bay in south China's Guangdong Province will implement a range of rigid monitoring measures to ensure that no damages occur to the environment when the venture becomes operational in 2005.The remark was made Friday by Li Hongzhong, secretary of Huizhou City Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). On October 28, Oil giant Shell signed a 4.05 billion U.S. dollar contract with its Chinese partners in Beijing to jointly invest in a petrochemical project that will be situated on Daya Bay in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province. The project is believed to be the largest Sino-foreign joint venture in the country. A joint company, the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited, was set up by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Shell, and the Guangdong Investment and Development Company for the petrochemical project. Shell holds a 50 percent stake in the joint venture. The project will turn out 800,000 tons of ethylene and 2.3 million tons of petrochemical products each year once the first phase of construction is completed in 2005. The first phase of the project will cost 4.05 billion U.S. dollars. According to the Party secretary, the provincial government has designated a special zone in Daya Bay for the propagation of fish. China National Offshore Oil Corporation has twice organized specialists to investigate the impact of the project on the environment. The joint company has also planned to invest 170 million U.S. dollars in the treatment of polluting materials from the project. "Along with Shell's advanced technology and huge investment input, coupled with the introduction of rigid monitoring measures agreed by both sides in construction, the petrochemical project will not cause damages to the environment around Daya Bay," said Li. |
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