China's petrochem stimulus plan gets govt. go-ahead

20-Feb-09

As China's economy witnessed a significant slowing down in the last quarter, the Chinese Government has given a go-ahead to the stimulus package for mainland's petrochemical industry, the State Council proclaimed in a statement on its official web portal. In November last year, the government announced to inject approximately US$585 bln (CNY 4 trillion) in the petrochem industry to aid China's economy. China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA) reported that mainland's petrochem industry witnessed a first slide in a decade while showing negative income growth in December 2008. The massive stimulus package, which aims to streamline and increase the effectiveness of the industry, calls for ramping up of production of the chief oil refining, ethylene projects and control the development of the coal-to-liquids projects. Most importantly, the plan will also aim to augment domestic demand; close obsolete manufacturing sites; perk up the tax policy and credit facilities to petrochem companies and impede approvals for assignments targeted solely towards production expansion.