On September 26, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other 6 departments of the People's Republic of China, jointly issued the Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry (2025–2026). The plan proposes that during 2025–2026, the added value of the petrochemical and chemical industry should grow at an average annual rate of more than 5%, with economic benefits stabilizing and rebounding. The industry's capacity for technological innovation should be significantly enhanced, and the levels of refined extension, digital empowerment, and intrinsic safety should continue to improve. Collaborative pollution and carbon reduction should yield notable results, and chemical industrial parks should transition from standardized construction to high-quality development.
The plan also proposes scientifically regulating major project construction. It calls for strengthening guidance on the planning and layout of major petrochemical and modern coal chemical projects, strictly controlling new refining capacity, and reasonably determining the scale and pace of new ethylene and paraxylene capacity additions to prevent overcapacity risks in coal-to-methanol production. In the petrochemical sector, strict implementation of capacity replacement requirements for new refining projects is required, with key support for upgrading aging petrochemical facilities, industrialization demonstrations of new technologies, and “oil-to-chemicals” transformation projects at existing refining and chemical enterprises. In the modern coal chemical sector, emphasis is placed on moderately deploying coal-to-oil, coal-to-gas, and coal-to-chemicals projects in regions relatively rich in coal and water resources with good environmental capacity. Demonstration projects will be carried out for the integration of coal chemicals and new energy, advanced materials, technical equipment, and industrial operating systems, as well as for carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage. Projects such as helium extraction from natural gas and potassium extraction from seawater will be accelerated.
Interpretation of the Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry (2025–2026)
Recently, seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the People’s Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, and the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives jointly released the Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry (2025–2026) (hereinafter referred to as the Work Plan). To ensure its effective implementation, the following interpretation is provided:
I. Background of the Work Plan
The petrochemical and chemical industry is a foundational and pillar industry of the national economy, with large economic scale and strong industrial linkages, playing a key role in stabilizing industrial growth and ensuring smooth economic operation. After years of development, China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of petrochemical and chemical products. In 2024, the added value of the industry accounted for 14.9% of total industrial added value, with a growth rate of 6.6%, 0.8 percentage points higher than the industrial average. China leads the world in production capacity for more than 20 basic chemical products such as refining, ethylene, and synthetic resins, effectively serving as a stabilizer for industrial growth.
However, the industry also faces challenges such as intensified competition in basic organic raw materials, insufficient supply of high-end fine chemicals, slowing domestic demand growth, and increasing external uncertainties. The Work Plan aims to coordinate stable growth and transformation, combining the cultivation of new growth drivers with the upgrading of old ones, improving supply quality while expanding domestic and international demand, and integrating market-led and government-guided approaches. The goal is to achieve effective quality improvement and reasonable quantity growth in the industry, laying a solid foundation for high-quality development.
II. Overall Considerations of the Work Plan
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the plan fully implements the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee. It adheres to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, balances the roles of the market and the government, and emphasizes coordinated efforts on both supply and demand sides, dynamic balance, and targeted support or restraint.
Systematic planning and policy coordination: The plan aligns with major national policies such as the 14th Five-Year Plan for high-quality development of the petrochemical industry and the implementation plan for innovative development of the fine chemical industry. It also integrates with the research on the 15th Five-Year Plan for the industry, offering a two-year systematic plan for stable growth.
Problem-oriented approach to high-quality growth: Addressing issues such as low investment efficiency and weak demand growth, the plan aims to improve investment returns, accelerate high-end, green, digital, and safe transformation, and avoid low-level redundant construction. It promotes both domestic demand expansion and international market development, deepens upstream-downstream coordination, and fosters integrated domestic and foreign trade development.
Improving the policy system to stimulate market vitality: The plan increases efforts to upgrade aging facilities, optimizes pilot project management, improves capacity early warning mechanisms, and implements differentiated credit policies to create a favorable development environment.
III. Main Goals of the Work Plan
The Work Plan sets the following goals for 2025–2026:
Average annual growth of more than 5% in industry added value
Stabilizing and rebounding economic benefits
Significantly enhanced technological innovation capacity
Continuous improvement in refined extension, digital empowerment, and intrinsic safety
Notable results in collaborative pollution and carbon reduction
Transition of chemical industrial parks from standardized construction to high-quality development
IV. Key Tasks of the Work Plan
Focusing on new trends and challenges, the Work Plan outlines 10 key tasks in five areas: innovation, efficiency, demand, platforms, and cooperation.
Strengthen industrial innovation and improve effective supply
Support R&D of key products such as electronic chemicals and high-end polyolefins. Establish innovation centers, pilot platforms, and data nodes for advanced fine chemicals. Upgrade traditional products like coatings and pesticides, shifting from product sales to integrated solutions. Optimize fertilizer production planning and improve the integrated regulation system for production, transport, storage, and trade. Streamline approval processes for pilot projects to accelerate industrialization of innovations.
Expand effective investment and promote transformation
Strictly control new refining capacity and regulate the pace of new ethylene and paraxylene capacity. Prevent overcapacity in coal-to-methanol. Implement the Action Plan for Accelerating the Upgrade of Aging Facilities in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry. Carry out digital transformation assessments and “AI + Petrochemicals” initiatives. Support energy-saving, water-saving, and emission-reduction upgrades. Accelerate the development of standards for high-end, green, and digital transformation.
Expand market demand and unlock potential
Organize supply-demand matchmaking events. Tap into traditional sectors like construction, automotive, and shipbuilding. Cultivate new application scenarios in new energy, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robotics. Promote non-grain bio-based materials and green ammonia/methanol for marine fuel. Improve green product certification. Promote integrated domestic and foreign trade development.
Strengthen development platforms and foster high-quality growth engines
Evaluate chemical parks based on competitiveness and smart development. Guide parks to improve industrial chains and collaborate with national economic and technological zones. Foster advanced manufacturing clusters, SME clusters, and leading enterprises.
Deepen openness and cooperation and enhance international development
Implement stable foreign trade policies. Promote overseas resource development cooperation. Strengthen support for foreign investment projects. Enhance exchanges in fine chemicals, green development, and AI. Participate in international convention negotiations and align standards and certifications with international norms.
V. Implementation Safeguards for the Work Plan
To ensure the successful implementation of the Work Plan, three safeguards are proposed:
Organizational safeguards: Local governments should develop supporting measures. Leading enterprises should drive coordinated development across the industrial chain. Industry associations should strengthen self-regulation and bridge-building roles.
Policy support: Use ultra-long-term special treasury bonds and other channels to support innovation and equipment upgrades. Encourage financial institutions to implement differentiated credit policies. Cultivate high-level technical and managerial talent. Accelerate project approvals in accordance with laws and regulations.
Monitoring and evaluation: Track and analyze basic industry data and global policy, industrial, and technological trends. Monitor industry performance and release a petrochemical industry prosperity index. Improve early warning mechanisms for key product capacities and provide timely alerts for decision-making by financial institutions, enterprises, and local governments.
Source: cls
