Seven Departments: By 2029, the renovation and upgrade tasks for outdated petrochemical and chemical installations confirmed by 2025 in various regions will be fully completed.

Each Daily Reporter｜Zhang Rui    Each Daily Editor｜Xu Shaohang

On April 3, seven departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, jointly issued the “Action Plan to Step Up the Renewal and Renovation of Outdated Units in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry (2026—2029)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”).

The Plan proposes that by 2029, all renewal and renovation tasks for outdated petrochemical and chemical units that were already determined in 2025 in each locality will be fully completed; renewal and renovation tasks newly determined after 2026 will be advanced according to plan; and a long-term working mechanism featuring annual rolling surveys and evaluations, along with ongoing renovation and improvement, will be continuously strengthened. The effects of standard guidance and policy coordination will be further enhanced.

(Image: At the press conference, photographed by Each Daily Reporter Zhang Rui)

On the same day, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a news briefing titled “Step Up the Renewal and Renovation of Outdated Units in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry to Promote Upgrading and Quality Improvement in the Industry.”

More than a thousand companies have already completed renovation and upgrade of outdated units, or exited by elimination

At the briefing, Chang Guowu, Director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the petrochemical and chemical industry has a large economic scale and a high degree of industrial interdependence, playing an important role in stabilizing economic growth, ensuring energy security, and safeguarding the safety of the industrial chain and supply chain.

He noted that in China, there are more than 27,000 production enterprises above the designated size in the petrochemical and chemical industry. Some early-built units have relatively low design and construction standards, outdated processes, and not high automation control levels, and there are problems such as high safety and environmental risks, irrational layout, and low operating efficiency.

“Accelerating the renewal and renovation of outdated units in the petrochemical and chemical industry is an important measure to eliminate safety and environmental risks from the root, and also an effective path to improve the industry’s technical and equipment level and cultivate and develop new quality productive forces,” he said.

Chang Guowu said that since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments, has actively promoted the relocation and renovation of hazardous chemicals production enterprises in densely populated urban areas, and the “relocation, renovation, and closure” of chemical enterprises along the river. More than a thousand companies have completed renovation and upgrade of outdated units or exited. However, outdated units are a continuous process, and the renewal and renovation work still faces many difficulties and problems, requiring stronger efforts and sustained advancement.

It is against this backdrop that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments jointly issued the Plan. Focusing on the goals, the Plan sets out six tasks, including conducting rolling surveys and assessments, formulating renewal and renovation plans, promoting quality improvement and upgrade, optimizing project management, handling acceptance management well, and strengthening standard guidance and support.

Will work with relevant departments to guide localities to establish and improve green channels for the approval of renewal and renovation projects

What are the difficulties in advancing renewal and renovation of outdated units? How will the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology promote solutions?

In response, Chang Guowu said that based on preliminary research, the difficulties in the renewal and renovation work for outdated units mainly fall into three areas:

Specifically, first, the renewal and renovation of outdated units requires large capital input. In recent years, market competition in the petrochemical and chemical industry has intensified, companies’ profitability levels have been not high, and capital pressure is relatively large.

Second, overall new-build projects generally face problems such as large construction workloads, complex processes, and long approval cycles. Usually, a construction period requires more than three years; some renovation and upgrade projects need a longer period of shutdown, which may cause some impact on enterprises’ normal production and operations.

Third, some standard requirements are not high. The development of standards to lead high-quality development, such as green and digital transformation, is generally lagging, and the guiding role for enterprises’ renewal and renovation is not strong.

“Targeting the above problems, the Plan proposes targeted policy measures,” Chang Guowu said. In terms of increasing financial support, by leveraging existing policy funding channels such as large-scale equipment renewal, scientific and technological innovation, and re-lending for technology transformation, support will be provided for the renewal and renovation of outdated units that meet the conditions.

He mentioned that currently, the country has increased the scale of re-lending for scientific and technological innovation and technology transformation from 500 billion yuan to 1.2 trillion yuan, and reduced the interest rate from 1.75% to 1.25%. As of the end of November 2025, banks had signed equipment renewal loan contracts with 700 petrochemical and chemical enterprises totaling more than 330 billion yuan, with loan balances of more than 140 billion yuan. In addition, efforts will also be made to promote docking between banks and enterprises through platforms such as the credit market service platform and the national industry-finance cooperation platform, to improve the quality and effectiveness of financial services.

Chang Guowu said that in terms of optimizing project management, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will, when studying the layout of major petrochemical projects, give priority support to renewal and renovation projects for outdated units. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will work with relevant departments to guide localities to establish and improve green channels for the approval of renewal and renovation projects, strengthen the support of factors, and optimize procedures for project filing (approval), environmental impact assessment, and safety licensing, so as to improve the efficiency of review and approval and accelerate project implementation.

“On strengthening standard guidance, a special action plan has been formulated, focusing on addressing the shortcomings in standards for the renewal and renovation of outdated units,” he said.

Cover image source: Each Daily Media Resource Library