County in C China's Henan turns rock salt into high-value chemical industry chain

Photo shows a salt storage warehouse at Henan Pingmei Gas Storage Salt Chemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Pingmei Shenma Group, in Yexian county, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Song Fangxin)

Yexian county in central China's Henan Province sits on vast underground reserves of rock salt and coal — resources it once relied on selling as cheap, low-value raw materials. Today, the county is turning that legacy into a comprehensive chemical industry cluster.

The county's proven rock salt reserves exceed 330 billion tonnes, ranking among the largest in China. "In the past, we mostly extracted raw salt and sold it at low prices, with an underdeveloped industrial chain and little added value," said Su Zheng, head of the county's industry and information technology bureau.

Polycarbonate products are packaged for shipment at a workshop of a polycarbonate materials company in Yexian county, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Xin Jing)

The turnaround began with industrial chain expansion. At the county's advanced manufacturing development zone, industrial salt produced by Henan Pingmei Gas Storage Salt Chemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Pingmei Shenma Group, is processed into chlorine gas and caustic soda.

Caustic soda is then transported to another subsidiary of the group, where it is used to synthesize high-value polycarbonate (PC) pellets. The process increases the material's value from 300 yuan (about $44.43) per tonne to more than 10,000 yuan, with the pellets later used in products such as eyeglass lenses, car headlight covers and high-speed train windshields.

Smart equipment runs at full capacity at a cord fabric production workshop in central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Song Fangxin)

Caustic soda is also used to extract battery-grade lithium carbonate for the new energy sector, while chlorine gas is utilized to produce pharmaceutical intermediates.

Underground salt caverns, valued for their airtight and pressure-resistant properties, are also being developed into natural gas and hydrogen storage facilities.

At the Pingdingshan nylon new materials development zone in the county, hydrogen and steam from the salt chemical process are piped to a nylon deep processing industrial park, where coal and benzene are processed to produce nylon 66 salt, chips and industrial yarn — later woven into cord fabric used in aircraft tires, ship cables and other products.

An aerial view of "China Nylon City" in central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Song Fangxin)

One industry's success is lifting others. As the salt chemical sector surges ahead, the county's coal-based nylon industry and equipment manufacturing sector are rising in tandem, each reinforcing the other.

The 50,000-tonne adiponitrile project of China Pingmei Shenma Group has broken a long-standing foreign technology monopoly. Meanwhile, locally produced nylon 66 dipped cord fabric is now used in aviation and shipbuilding, supporting high-end manufacturing. Local manufacturer Henan Loncin Motorcycle Co., Ltd.'s smart workshop can weld a motorcycle frame in three minutes, with exports continuing to grow.

Photo shows nylon technology and chemical facilities in Yexian county, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Xin Jing)

In 2025, Yexian county advanced 40 major industrial projects with combined investment of 24.9 billion yuan.