Sinopec will invest 200 billion yuan (US$29 billion) to upgrade four refinery and petrochemical bases in China’s Maoming-Zhanjiang region, Zhenhai, Shanghai and Nanjing during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the company announced on March 2.

“It’s a strategic move that fits the global industrial trend for clustered and scaled development and helps transform China’s petrochemical products to medium and high quality,” Sinopec Chairman Wang Yupu said.

Following the upgrade, the total refining capacity of the four bases is expected to reach 130 million tons per year. Moreover, the company anticipates ethylene production at a rate of 9 million tons per year. The bases will make up 17 percent of China’s refining capacity and 31 percent of its ethylene capacity after the remodeling.