On March 22, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region held a concentrated groundbreaking ceremony for major projects in the first quarter of 2025. The 1.5 million tons/year para-xylene expansion and renovation project, along with the new 2 million tons/year PTA development project of Urumqi Petrochemical Company, officially commenced. This project is a key engineering initiative for China Petroleum's layout of an aromatics base in the northwest region and is also a key industrial chain extension and expansion project promoted by the autonomous region.

The key projects for the development of the aromatics industry at China Petroleum Urumqi Petrochemical Company include the expansion of the aromatics unit and the raw material matching transformation project, as well as the construction of a 2 million tons/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) project. The expansion of the aromatics unit and the raw material matching transformation project will modify the existing 1.8 million tons/year diesel hydrogenation reforming unit to increase the production of naphtha and aviation kerosene. Based on the original 1 million tons/year aromatics combined unit's equipment and facilities, a 2 million tons/year continuous reforming unit and an 800,000 tons/year aromatics extraction unit will be built, along with adaptive modifications to the existing adsorption separation and pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems. This will further achieve energy-saving and carbon reduction goals while better meeting the raw material needs for the development of the aromatics industry chain in the autonomous region. The new 2 million tons/year PTA project mainly includes a PTA unit with a capacity of 2 million tons/year and supporting utilities and auxiliary production facilities. Once operational, it will provide sufficient raw materials for the textile and clothing industry and the biodegradable plastics industry in Xinjiang, helping to form a complete industry chain of "refining - chemical - spinning - clothing."

Xia Gang, the deputy manager of the Aromatics Industry Engineering Project Construction Department at Urumqi Petrochemical Company, said that these two key projects for the development of the aromatics industry are a "critical link" in connecting Xinjiang's chemical industry with the entire textile and apparel industry chain. They are expected to be completed and put into operation in the third quarter of 2027. Once the projects are completed, they will drive the downstream polyester industry to form an industrial cluster worth over 100 billion, injecting strong momentum into Xinjiang's efforts to build a modern chemical industry hub.

According to reports, Urumqi City had a total of 399 projects that resumed or commenced work in the first quarter, mainly distributed in characteristic advantageous industries such as new energy and computing power, as well as key sectors like real estate and infrastructure.

This year, Urumqi has prioritized the construction of key projects as the top focus of its work, striving to promote a number of large-scale, high-quality, and strong-leading landmark major projects to commence construction. With full speed and effort, it aims to drive project development, achieving a "good start" in the first quarter to lead to a "successful year," making concrete efforts to take the lead and shoulder responsibilities in the high-quality economic and social development of the entire region. It aspires to set an example and take the lead in advancing the practice of Chinese-style modernization in Xinjiang.