Eco-focused expansion drives sustainable innovation on Dalian's Changxing Island

Hengli Group, which is building green petrochemical, fine chemical and high-end equipment manufacturing clusters on Changxing Island of Dalian, Liaoning province—one of China's seven major petrochemical industry bases—also emphasizes natural ecology for sustainable development.

"We aim to be economically significant in the region where we establish a factory while striving to minimize our environmental footprint and achieve the best possible outcomes for the local environment," said Chen Jianhua, chairman and president of Hengli Group Co Ltd.

Hengli Group is a Fortune Global 500 company that focuses on the full production chain of oil refining, petrochemicals, polyester new materials and textiles.

Chen said that innovations in water resource management at the Hengli Industrial Park include groundbreaking embedded sewage treatment technology that enables complete gray water reuse and the utilization of seawater for cooling purposes.

"By harnessing the plant's low-temperature waste heat for seawater desalination, the facility can save water equivalent to the annual consumption of 100,000 local households," he said.

The journey began in 2010 when the company officially partnered with the Dalian municipal government, initiating the construction of a petrochemical industrial park in the Dalian Changxing Island Economic and Technological Development Zone.

The park boasts five PTA production lines with an annual capacity of 12 million tons, making it the world's largest PTA production base.

In 2017, the industrial park embarked on a 20 million tons per year refining and chemical integration project. Chen emphasized the integration of emission control efforts from the project's inception.

Driven by a vision of creating a world-class petrochemical park characterized by utmost safety, environmental friendliness, intrinsic excellence and aesthetic appeal, Chen and his team conducted extensive global research, culminating in the park's design philosophy.

In recent years, Hengli has expanded its footprint in Changxing Island. It initiated a new materials innovation park to enhance downstream linkages and forayed into shipbuilding and high-end equipment manufacturing by acquiring the long-abandoned STX Dalian shipyard.