A media delegation visits the site of Zhongke (Guangdong) Refinery and Petrochemical's project in Zhanjiang. CHAI HUA/CHINA DAILY

Currently, some supporting plants of the project are under construction and their derivative products will be beneficial to new materials, the light industry, autos and other related sectors, Deng said.

Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel project is another major driver of the city's port-based economic development.

Also located on Donghai Island, the plant is one of the four production bases of the world-leading steelmaker Baosteel Group.

It will celebrate the fifth anniversary of its first blast furnace on Sept 25 and plans to operate a third by July 2021.

Once completed, Baosteel Zhanjiang will increase its total production capacity to 12.25 million tons of molten iron; 12.52 million tons of molten steel; and 10.81 million tons of steel.

Although the steel industry has long been seen as a major contributor to heavy pollution, construction of the Baosteel project in Zhanjiang did not harm the local environment. This is thanks to its smart manufacturing and environmentally friendly technologies.

They include ultra-clean emissions in power plants, desulfurization and denitrification of flue gas, wastewater treatment and rainwater recycling. In 2017 and 2020, the project was awarded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for highly efficient use of water in the iron and steel industry.

The BASF smart Verbund site is China's first large petrochemical project solely owned by a foreign investor.

Construction of the German chemical giant's largest single investment in China kicked off in Zhanjiang in November 2019.

It is also BASF's third-largest production site in the world, after Ludwigshafen and Antwerp in Belgium, with a total investment of $10 billion.

The first group of facilities is under construction and is to be put into use by 2022.

Scheduled to be completed by 2030, the project will form a solid foundation for a world-class industrial cluster in Zhanjiang and provide impetus for economic growth in the city, southern China and Asia in the coming years.

During a conference held in Zhanjiang earlier this year, Zheng Renhao, Party secretary of Zhanjiang, urged governments at different levels to gear up to carry out the three-year (2020-22) plan to promote high-quality development of manufacturing industry by strengthening and expanding industrial chains and promoting industrial clusters.

"The city will highlight the development of harbor-based industries so that the city will become a major base for world-class, green and premium heavy and chemical industries," he noted.

The city will also redouble efforts to develop its traditional industrial clusters, while fostering and making bigger strategic growth industries, the official added.