Chemical base in northwest China bullish on development in 2023

This photo taken on June 22, 2022 shows a night view of the coal-to-liquid plant of Ningxia Coal Industry Group Co., Ltd. under China Energy in Ningdong Energy Chemical Industry Base, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

YINCHUAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Every working day, some 600 shuttle buses cruise along the highway between Yinchuan, capital city of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Ningdong Town, which is home to one of the country's largest energy and chemical bases.

Li Lijuan, 30, is one of the approximately 100,000 people who make the round-trip commute. Li is a junior manager working in clean energy and new materials development at Ningxia Baoting New Energy Co., Ltd.

"Our company was only established two years ago but has become a leader in transforming coal tar into new energy and chemical products," Li said.

The company, with 700 employees, buys coal tar mainly from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and transforms it into new energy and chemical products like liquid gas and polypropylene. Its revenue was 6 billion yuan (873 million U.S. dollars) last year.

It also produces hydrogen products from coal tar that are suitable for use in vehicles, and it has established the first hydrogen gas station for clean energy buses in northwest China.

The company is one of the over 200 innovation-oriented companies at the Ningdong Energy Chemical Industry Base in eastern Ningxia, specializing in making clean energy, new materials and other chemical products. The base contributed 62 billion yuan to the local GDP in 2022.

Adopting high technologies and fostering innovation, most of these companies are also exporters of new materials, electric batteries, various chemical products and environmentally friendly pesticides.

Thanks to Ningxia's rich natural resources, such as mining products and abundant low-priced electricity, the base has attracted a growing number of investors since it was established in 2003.

Yantai Tayho Advanced Material Co., Ltd., headquartered in east China's Shandong Province, is one of the newcomers to the base. By collaborating with other industrial producers, the company has produced various advanced new materials. The materials can be used in a variety of products, such as daily necessities, disaster prevention and relief work equipment, and plane and vehicle parts.

"Firefighters from Germany and other countries are using fire-proof suits made from our products and the injury rate has been greatly reduced," said Wang Lan with the company.

Ningxia's traditional industrial resources have also contributed to the base's growth by transforming and innovating industrial technologies and attracting new talent.

This year, the Ningdong base is expected to draw in around 160 new projects with an estimated total investment value of approximately 208 billion yuan.

"Projects are key to development. By providing a friendly investment environment, we are inviting more investors with high technology, while keeping in mind environmental protection, production safety, and good living conditions for workers," said Tao Shaohua, director of the administrative commission of the base.