Another heavyweight petrochemical project is the Sino-Kuwaiti refinery-petrochemical integration project that is scheduled to be operational by the end of this year.

Construction is proceeding smoothly and on Oct 15, the 53.5-kilometer-long gas supply pipeline was completed. On Oct 30, installation of key production facilities including the gas fractionation unit, refining unit and spent caustic treatment unit were completed.

According to an executive of the project, the Sino-Kuwaiti facility will have a total investment of 38.55 billion yuan ($5.48 billion).

Its first phase will have an annual capacity of 10 million tons of refined oil and 800,000 tons of ethylene.

Domestic company Baosteel was one of the earliest big-name investors in Zhanjiang, investing in a huge steel-making facility.

Under the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission, Baosteel Zhanjiang was established in May 2011.

Invested by the Shanghai-headquartered Baosteel Group, the Zhanjiang facility broke ground on the city's Donghai Island in May 2012.

After seven years' construction and development, the company began to build its No 3 blast furnace on Mar 29.

Before that, the stable operations of the No 1 and No 2 furnaces helped the company boost its steel output to 7.98 million tons in 2018.

A number of new facilities, covering iron-making, continuous casting, hot-and-cold rolling as well as logistics, are still under construction at Baosteel Zhanjiang.

After the completion of such facilities by 2022, new annual capacities, including 4.02 million tons of molten iron, 3.6 million tons of molten steel, 4.5 million tons of hot-rolled and 1.66 million tons of cold-rolled products will be added to the company's portfolio, company executives predicted.

Baosteel Zhanjiang recorded sales revenue of 39.06 billion yuan and net profit of 4.21 billion yuan in 2018, while paying 1.05 billion yuan in tax to the local government.

Company executives and Chinese officials at the groundbreaking ceremony for the BASF project on Nov 23.Lang Shucheng/for China Daily