On March 25, Chairman Frank Ning of Sinochem Group attended the “2018 CEO Dialogue” (a high-level meeting for Sino-foreign petrochemical multinationals) in Beijing and delivered a speech on the “Belt and Road Initiative: China’s Initiative, World’s Opportunity” and “Prospect of Transformation and Upgrade of the Petrochemical Industry in the New Era.” The speech was well-received and met with active response from his peers at home and abroad.
In the speech, Chairman Frank Ning noted that Belt and Road countries produce, sell, import and export more than 50% of the world’s oil and gas. However, their per capita energy consumption is insufficient, accounting for only half of the EU average. In the years ahead, the "Belt and Road" Initiative will promote free flow of energy elements and effective allocation of resources of these counties, releasing their market demand potential to enable a bigger space for petrochemical investment and trade.
Chairman Frank Ning analyzed the current trend of the petrochemical industry. He said that petrochemical industry is facing a new transformation and upgrading in the new era. In the next 3 to 5 years, new industry capacities will concentrate on downstream areas. Except for traditional gasoline and diesel products, more ethylene, aromatics, PTA and other chemical products will be produced. He believes that the trend of Sino-U.S. trade relations will affect China's energy structure and the United States will seek to export more shale oil and gas and chemical products to China.
