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    We must continue to work hard, adhere to source control, reduce pollution and carbon emissions throughout the entire process, vigorously promote digital transformation and green transformation, and build a world leading green intelligent refining enterprise. At the same time, the General Secretary also pointed out that the petrochemical industry is an important pillar industry of the national economy. We hope that you will adhere to the green and intelligent direction in accordance with the deployment requirements of the Party Central Committee for new industrialization, work hard, and make new contributions to ensuring national energy security and promoting high-quality development of the petrochemical industry.   This year is the starting year for fully implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and also a crucial year for carrying forward the 14th Five Year Plan. At this critical period of high-quality development of the whole industry and the promotion of Chinese path to modernization, it is of great significance for the petroleum and chemical industry to complete the development goals of the 14th Five Year Plan and accelerate the construction of a powerful petrochemical country by comparing goals, summarizing experience and analyzing problems.

The entire industry should fully recognize the importance and urgency of accelerating the promotion of green and sustainable development

From an international perspective, climate change and environmental pollution have become the focus of global attention. The development and promulgation of a series of environmental conventions such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its Kigali Amendment, as well as the Plastic Convention, reflect the high importance that countries around the world attach to global environmental governance. With China actively joining and fulfilling global environmental conventions, this requires us to keep up with the times, look to the world, assume the responsibility of a great power, demonstrate the sense of a great power, and achieve a significant transformation from a participant in global environmental governance to a leader.

In 2020, the European Commission released the Sustainable Chemicals Strategy. This strategy aims to better protect the public and the environment, promote safe and sustainable chemical innovation, and is an important step taken by the EU towards achieving the goals of a non-toxic environment and zero pollution. On October 1st of this year, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) began trial operation, with a transition period until the end of 2025 and gradually implemented from 2026 to 2034. As a result, the EU has become the world's first economy to impose a "carbon tariff". This also means that high carbon emissions at any link in the supply chain will result in higher carbon control costs for exported products. Although currently only two chemical products, fertilizers and hydrogen, are included in the scope of taxation, it is highly likely that organic chemicals and plastics will be included in the scope of taxation in the future, which will inevitably have a significant impact on the entire chemical industry.

At present, green and low-carbon development has become the trend and direction of global economic development. Major countries in the world are urgently deploying green and sustainable development strategies, especially developed economies attach great importance to leading the global green and low-carbon development process through the formulation of rules and standards, reshaping the international division of labor pattern. This has brought unprecedented challenges to the transformation and upgrading of China's petroleum and chemical industry.

From a domestic perspective, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has made strategic arrangements for promoting the construction of a beautiful China in the new era and new journey, and promoting harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. It emphasizes the need to "coordinate industrial structure adjustment, pollution control, ecological protection, and response to climate change, promote carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth in a coordinated manner, and promote ecological priority, conservation and intensive, green and low-carbon development.

  China's economic and social development has entered a new stage of high-quality development with accelerated greening and low carbonization, and the construction of ecological civilization is still in a critical period of pressure accumulation and carrying heavy burdens. Propose to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of development mode, adhere to green and low-carbon development as the fundamental solution to ecological and environmental problems, accelerate the formation of green production and lifestyle, and cultivate a green background of high-quality development.

The entire industry should fully recognize the shortcomings and weaknesses that constrain the green, low-carbon, and sustainable development of China's petrochemical industry

In the 13th Five Year Plan, we proposed to achieve the goal of transitioning from a major country in the petroleum and chemical industries to a strong country within about 15 years, which means that this goal should be achieved by 2030. Currently, it is a critical period for China to transition from a major country in the petroleum and chemical industries to a strong country. So what is a strong country in the petroleum and chemical industries? We believe that a strong country in the petroleum and chemical industry should have at least four standards: first, it should have a group of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights and occupy the technological high ground of the industry; Secondly, there should be a group of large enterprises and corporate groups with world-class competitiveness; Thirdly, it is necessary to have world-class industry operational efficiency and economic benefits; The fourth is to have world-class technical management talents and product brands with first-class influence.

  Chinese path to modernization should include the modernization of innovation and development, the modernization of industrial transformation, the modernization of green and low-carbon, and the modernization of first-class efficiency.

Although the sales revenue of China's petroleum and chemical industry has been the second largest in the world since 2010, second only to the United States. The sales revenue of the chemical industry has surpassed that of the United States, becoming the world's largest country. At present, the sales revenue of China's chemical industry accounts for 44.4% of the world's total chemical industry sales, exceeding the sum of the United States, Europe, and Japan. But we also need to be aware that there is still a considerable gap between China's petroleum and chemical industry and global petroleum and chemical industry powers in terms of industrial structure, technological innovation, green and low-carbon, and advantageous enterprises. Especially in terms of green development, the overall level is not high enough, the foundation is relatively weak, and the characteristics of high energy consumption and high carbon emissions in the industrial structure are still obvious. It is necessary to accelerate the construction of a green, low-carbon, circular, and safe development industrial system.

Firstly, the structural contradictions in the industry remain prominent. The industrial structure is mainly composed of bulk basic chemicals, with a high proportion of high-energy consuming products. Many common synthetic materials such as soda ash, caustic soda, calcium carbide, coke, synthetic ammonia, urea, and polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. use fossil resources as raw materials. More than 20 types of bulk basic products with high material consumption and emissions rank first in the world's production capacity and output. However, high-performance materials and high-end fields such as high-end polyolefins, high-strength and high modulus carbon fibers, high-end electronic chemicals, high-end membrane materials, and high-purity reagents have been dependent on imports for many years. The structural contradiction of surplus of middle and low-end products and shortage of high-end products is still very prominent. The shortcomings of low-end surplus, high-end shortage, and weak innovation are becoming increasingly apparent, which are the biggest shortcomings and constraints for high-quality development and achieving the goal of becoming a petrochemical powerhouse.

Secondly, the safety production situation of hazardous chemicals remains severe. In recent years, although the total number of chemical accidents and deaths in China has shown a downward trend, there are still many accidents, and the continuous occurrence of accidents has not been fundamentally eliminated. For example, last year's Lanzhou "6.16" sewage workshop explosion accident, this year's Liaoning Panjin "1.15" explosion accident, Liaocheng "5.1" hydrogen peroxide explosion accident, etc., have caused significant losses to people's lives and property, and have had a negative impact on industry production and operation. The industry's safety production is still in a period of climbing hills and overcoming obstacles, and the management level of intrinsic safety is far from being in place. The ability to control risks needs to be vigorously summarized and improved in practice with a strong sense of dedication and responsibility that cannot sleep at night.

The third is the coexistence of pressure for the treatment of traditional pollutants and new pollutants. The discharge of wastewater, exhaust gas, industrial solid waste, and hazardous waste in the entire industry ranks among the top in the industrial sector. The treatment of high concentration organic wastewater, volatile organic pollutants, hazardous waste, and other pollutants is difficult. As a major producer and user of chemicals, the potential environmental and health risks of new pollutants in China cannot be ignored, which are related to ecological environment safety, people's health, and quality of life. They are gradually becoming one of the new difficulties restricting the continuous and in-depth improvement of air, water, and soil environmental quality, and urgently need to strengthen prevention and control.

The fourth is that the carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategy brings higher requirements. There are over 3000 enterprises in the entire industry that consume more than 10000 tons of standard coal, forming a large number of high energy consuming and carbon emitting stock devices and assets. In 2020, the total energy consumption of China's petroleum and chemical industry was 685 million tons of standard coal, ranking second in the industrial sector. The total carbon emissions were about 1.384 billion tons, accounting for about 13% of the total emissions in the industrial sector. In the next few years, the petroleum and chemical industry objectively needs a certain amount of carbon emission growth. The country has clearly stated that the petroleum and chemical industry needs to achieve carbon peak before 2030. The industry is facing great pressure for low-carbon development, and major innovations in carbon reduction, zero carbon, and negative carbon technologies need to be strengthened. The construction of basic capabilities such as carbon emission monitoring, accounting, and verification still needs to be accelerated.

Comprehensively creating a new situation of green, low-carbon, high-quality and sustainable development in China's petrochemical industry

Against the backdrop of unprecedented global changes and accelerated restructuring of the petrochemical industry and supply chain, promoting green transformation of economic development has become a global consensus. Countries around the world are actively exploring new technologies, paths, and systems for sustainable development. In this context, green chemistry is becoming an important emerging field for the global energy and chemical industry to achieve industrial revolution and enhance competitiveness.

Green chemistry refers to the principle of atomic economy in the chemical reaction process, which fully utilizes every atom involved in the reaction to obtain new substances, achieves zero emissions, not only fully utilizes resources, but also does not produce pollution. Using non-toxic and harmless solvents, additives, and catalysts to produce environmentally friendly products that are conducive to environmental protection, community safety, and human health. The goal of green chemistry is to find ways and processes that fully utilize raw materials and energy, and can achieve clean and pollution-free reactions in multiple stages. Green chemistry is highly valued internationally. In 1996, the United States established the "Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award" and awarded it for the first time to Monsanto (for changing synthetic routes), Dow Chemical (for changing solvents/reaction conditions), Rohm and Haas (for designing safer chemistry), Dow Jones (for small business), and Professor Holtap from Texas A&M University (for academic awards). Green chemistry will achieve stronger development in the 21st century and present a more attractive new prospect. We can clearly see that green and low-carbon development is leading a new future for the global economy. For the chemical industry, green processes, green technologies, and zero emissions in chemical processes are the most essential and highest level of green.

In the future, climate change, environmental pollution, and chemical safety will continue to force the petrochemical industry to accelerate its transformation and achieve green development. In combination with the current development trend of global chemical industry and the current situation of domestic chemical industry, we give green chemistry new connotation, namely high-end development, cleaner production, low-carbon transformation, recycling transformation and digital transformation, which will certainly accelerate the historical process of promoting green high-quality development of petrochemical industry and create a new future of Chinese path to modernization.

1、 Promote transformation and upgrading through high-end development

The world's petroleum and chemical industry has developed to this day, especially after China's petroleum and chemical industry bid farewell to the era of shortage economy, the market demand has indeed undergone earth shaking changes. There are five major trends in this market demand change: firstly, the market demand for traditional bulk petroleum and chemical products, such as "three acids and two alkalis", is mostly stable or gradually decreasing; The second is high-end petroleum and chemical products, such as new materials, high-end fine chemicals, etc., with market demand mostly in a trend of high quality, low quantity, and personalized growth; The third is health, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemical products, such as health supplements, cosmetics, high-end chemical drugs, etc. Especially with the acceleration of the aging society, the market demand is mostly in a state of significant growth; The fourth is that the market demand for agricultural production materials and chemical products, such as fertilizers, pesticides, especially seed engineering, is in a stable and growing trend of ensuring quantity and improving quality; The fifth is safety and environmental protection products, such as wastewater, exhaust gas, waste solid recycling products, carbon dioxide development and utilization products, plastic recycling products, etc. The market demand is in a trend of high-end innovation and rapid growth. From the changing trends in demand in these five major markets, we can clearly see that the demand for large-scale and large quantities of petroleum chemicals will become increasingly stable and gradually decrease in the future; The demand for personalized, high-end, and terminal petroleum chemicals will increase, and the quality requirements will become higher and higher; The demand for petroleum chemicals with standardized quality at the mid to low end will decrease, while the demand for differentiated products at the mid to high end will rapidly increase. According to the changing trend of market demand, in the future, the direction of technological innovation and product structure adjustment in the petroleum and chemical industry should firmly move towards high-end technology, market terminals, demand differentiation, health, nutrition and medical care, and safe and environmentally friendly green products. High end, differentiated, and green development and transformation will inevitably lead the entire industry to accelerate transformation and upgrading, advance layout, and achieve innovation as a leader.

2、 Reduce and eliminate environmental pollution through clean production

One is to vigorously promote clean production. It is to use green chemistry methods to carry out clean transformation of the entire industry chain, reduce and eliminate pollution. One is the widespread application of efficient catalytic technology. Catalytic technology has played a significant role in shortening reaction steps and improving conversion rates, achieving direct conversion in the reaction process and enhancing the "atomic economy" of the synthesis steps. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize the use of efficient green catalytic technology. Through efficient green catalytic technology, China is at the forefront of green preparation technologies in the fields of residue hydrogenation, ionic liquid alkylation, efficient direct conversion of methane, synthesis gas to ethylene glycol, caprolactam, MMA, epichlorohydrin, etc. In the future, efficient green catalytic technology and biocatalytic technology will be widely applied in chemical and chemical processes. Secondly, green solvents are widely used. More than 70% of chemical processes use solvents, and production efficiency is closely related to the properties and functions of the solvents. Green solvents that are non-toxic, harmless, environmentally friendly, and have special functions are an important direction for the development of the chemical industry. In the future, ionic liquids, normal water, near critical water, supercritical fluids, and their mixed systems will be widely used in chemical processes. The effective utilization of green solvents not only avoids the use of toxic and harmful solvents, eliminates organic pollution, but also optimizes and strengthens chemical processes using their characteristics, reduces energy consumption, improves raw material utilization, and realizes some chemical processes that are difficult or impossible to carry out under traditional conditions. Thirdly, efficient reaction devices are widely used. At present, microreactor technology has become the "new key" for technological upgrading in the fine chemical industry, and has broad development space in the future. It achieves process safety, efficiency, and controllability by studying the characteristics and laws of "three transmissions and one reversal" at the micro spatiotemporal scale. Microreactions provide new technological ideas for the transformation and upgrading of traditional fine chemical industries and the development of emerging chemical and new material industries, and have become an important driving force for the high-quality development of the industry.

  The second is to vigorously develop bio based chemicals. Biobased chemicals use biomass waste as raw materials, undergo different pretreatments and enter the refining platform to further synthesize platform based chemicals or polymer intermediates, and ultimately synthesize corresponding materials and chemicals. At present, the development of bio based industries is sparking a global trend. The OECD predicts in its "2030 Bioeconomy Policy Agenda" strategic report that by 2030, approximately 35% of chemicals and other industrial products worldwide will come from biomanufacturing. The EU has set a goal of replacing 6% to 12% of chemical raw materials and 30% to 60% of fine chemicals with bio based manufacturing by 2030; The United States predicts that by 2030, bio based chemicals will replace 25% of organic chemicals and 20% of petroleum fuels. In recent years, bio based chemicals have become a focal point of competition for large multinational corporations, with European companies such as BASF, DSM, Lonza, Degussa, and Roche all shifting their focus towards industrial biotechnology. In the United States, DuPont is the world's first company to produce 1,3-propanediol (PDO) using biological methods, while fine chemical companies such as Dow are continuously improving their research and development capabilities in producing bio based chemicals through biocatalysis. Japan has focused its research and development of bio based chemicals on polymer materials. Based on the current situation of China's large population, limited arable land, and priority guarantee of food supply, the development of bio based chemicals should focus on using biomass waste to replace food crops as a sustainable raw material supply, and establish a sustainable raw material system mainly composed of cellulose raw materials, supplemented by oil and carbon containing gases; Developing low-cost biomanufacturing process routes based on green reactions and achieving atomic economy; Take the fine chemicals, specialty chemicals, and polymer materials industries as the future development direction.

 Thirdly, we must pay close attention to chemical safety. With the improvement of public environmental awareness, the contradiction between the public's desire for a "harmless environment" and pollution in chemical production and use has become increasingly prominent. The chemical industry should pay more attention to the safety and risk management of chemicals, design more environmentally friendly chemicals, and implement green alternatives to certain existing chemicals through full lifecycle environmental impact analysis. Efforts should be made to effectively control and handle the source of toxic and harmful substances, and promote enterprises to fulfill their main responsibilities for the treatment of new pollutants. Simultaneously incorporating the concept of "responsible care" into the production and management of chemicals, promoting environmental information disclosure, and fulfilling social responsibilities.

3、 Promote the energy revolution through low-carbon transformation

Firstly, accelerate the energy transition. Some studies suggest that by 2050, it is technically feasible and economically affordable for renewable energy to meet 60% of China's primary energy demand and over 85% of its electricity demand. At that time, the primary energy supply will only be 3.4 billion tons of standard coal, and the proportion of renewable energy in primary energy will reach 62%. The breakthroughs in new energy technologies and new energy technologies are ushering in a new era of competition between traditional and renewable energy. Therefore, our industry needs to prioritize the layout and research and development of new energy technologies while ensuring national energy demand and energy security. We need to find a new path of orderly replacement and leapfrog transformation from traditional energy to new energy, especially taking the lead in innovative development of hydrogen energy.

Secondly, pay close attention to the development of hydrogen energy. According to a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), hydrogen produced through renewable energy sources, also known as "green hydrogen," will play a central role in the global energy transition. It is expected that by 2050, green hydrogen will account for 8% of global energy consumption, especially in industries such as steel, chemicals, shipping, trucks, and aviation that are difficult to decarbonize. The petrochemical industry has advantages in the development of the entire hydrogen energy industry chain. It is necessary to timely respond to the transformative impact brought by the development of the hydrogen energy industry and technology, leverage its advantages in low-cost hydrogen resources, infrastructure, technology management, etc., accelerate the innovation and breakthrough of the hydrogen energy industry, cultivate the market, advance layout, lead the development of the hydrogen energy industry, and play a key role in the future energy transformation.

Thirdly, promote the utilization of carbon dioxide. The efficient conversion and recycling of carbon resources is one of the important ways to achieve sustainable development of human society, and it is also a major challenge currently faced by humanity. We deeply realize that achieving the "dual carbon" goal does not require us to slow down development, nor does it require us to stop development. Instead, it is about achieving better, faster, and high-quality development under the constraints of carbon reduction and low-carbon. China is a developing country, and for a considerable period of time in the future, development will remain the foundation and key for our country to solve all problems. 'Development is the fundamental principle' is a major test of our ability to develop under the 'dual carbon' goal. I have mentioned on many occasions that under the "dual carbon" target, for petroleum and chemical companies, there will inevitably be a group of companies that "die under carbon" and a group of companies that "live on carbon". The fundamental difference between "dying under carbon" and "living on carbon" is whether you can find technologies, processes, and products for the resource utilization of carbon dioxide. Living on carbon "is an opportunity, which holds special significance for the petroleum and chemical industries. Because the chemical industry believes that carbon dioxide is not the root of all evil, it is an effective resource that can be utilized, and humans cannot live in a carbon free world. The chemical industry has the ability to change substances from molecular structure, and the resource utilization of carbon dioxide has unique advantages. Under the guidance of the "dual carbon" goal, key common technologies such as energy-saving and carbon reduction technology, new catalytic technology, process enhancement technology, efficient separation technology, advanced control and information technology, as well as carbon capture and storage technology, clean and efficient utilization technology of coal, new energy-saving technology, renewable energy and hydrogen energy technology, energy storage and smart grid technology, high-end functions and smart materials, degradable plastic technology, waste chemical recycling technology and other key areas will be further valued and receive research and development investment. It will definitely form a new situation of multi-point breakthroughs, system matching, and comprehensive upgrading of scientific and technological innovation in the petroleum and chemical industry. We firmly believe that the resource utilization and recycling of carbon dioxide will embark on a new journey of "technology is king" in the world's petroleum and chemical industry.

4、 Realize resource conservation through circular transformation

Firstly, promote the park to become an important carrier for the circular link of the petrochemical industry. Major well-known chemical industrial parks around the world generally adopt a comprehensive integrated construction concept, attach importance to the principle of circular development, and maintain the industrial chain and product chain together. Different enterprises have adjacent interconnected production facilities, upstream and downstream products are supplied to each other, pipelines are connected for transportation, and production scales are matched, reducing intermediate links and optimizing resource allocation and rational utilization, effectively reducing logistics and production costs of raw materials and products. There are over 300 chemical production parks and more than 28000 chemical production enterprises in the 27 EU member states, with the vast majority located within these parks. There are a total of 57 refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, accounting for 52% of the total refining capacity in the United States. It is the most concentrated region for refining in the United States and a typical example of intensive utilization of chemical raw materials and large-scale production of chemical products in the world.

Secondly, promote the complete resource utilization of production waste. With the construction of a circular economy society in China, the petrochemical industry has achieved resource recycling links with related industries on the basis of realizing internal recycling of production waste, significantly reducing the stockpile and eliminating ecological environment security. Improve the continuity, automation, and sealing of production facilities, eliminate wastewater and exhaust emissions, accelerate the construction of "waste free factories", and promote harmonious integration with the community. In this regard, we still have enormous potential and space for development.

Thirdly, accelerate the recycling of waste plastics. Plastic pollution has become a prominent global environmental issue, and accelerating plastic recycling has become a global consensus. The concept of circular economy is the core of sustainable development in the chemical industry and the catalyst for a circular society. We need to accelerate the research and development of advanced practical technologies for plastic pollution control and plastic recycling, and explore the value of products in various life cycles through polymer recycling, depolymerization, chemical recovery, bio based chemicals, and the production of synthetic gases and chemicals from carbon dioxide/hydrogen. We will strive to explore ways and effective approaches to plastic pollution prevention, control, and plastic recycling with Chinese characteristics, high technological content, and advanced management. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of plastics. To accelerate the resolution of plastic pollution and recycling issues, China must accelerate progress, innovate, and lead the world.

5、 Leading high-quality development through digital transformation

  The petroleum and chemical industry is the main force in accelerating the transformation of traditional industries and the development of new materials industries. It is also the main battlefield for promoting the integration of the digital economy and the real economy. Advancing digital transformation is an important path to promote the high-end, green, safe, and integrated development of the industry, and to achieve quality, efficiency, and power changes. The whole industry should actively use 5G, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet and other new generation information technologies to deeply integrate with petrochemical production, accelerate the digital transformation of the petroleum and chemical industry around the "four strengthening", and create more future factories and intelligent factories. Fully leverage the characteristics of high innovation, strong penetration, and wide coverage of the digital economy, making digital transformation an important pivot for transforming and upgrading the traditional petrochemical industry, and an important engine for promoting high-quality development of the petrochemical industry.

Currently, as the prominent contradictions in the entire industry gradually ease, innovation to catch up with the world's forefront and enter the high-end market has become the mainstream of industry development. As the world's largest chemical power, China is bound to become the focus of competition between global chemical powers and multinational corporations. The innovation of China's petroleum and chemical industry is transitioning from a "follower oriented" to a "leading" and "high-end" new stage. In this era of great competition, we must firmly grasp the primary task of high-quality development to shoulder the historical mission and responsibility of the petrochemical industry in the process of Chinese path to modernization.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has embarked on a new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modernized country, and has put forward higher and updated requirements for the green and low-carbon development of the petroleum and chemical industries.