HOUSTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China's petrochemical industry is marching towards a new stage of high-quality development, Fu Xiangsheng, vice president of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said here on Friday.
Delivering a speech at the China Forum of World Petrochemical Conference 2018 (WPC 2018) held here, Fu said China's petrochemical sector has come to a turning point thanks to global economic recovery and China's economic development.
Fu said world organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have made positive estimates about the global economy for the year 2018.
He said all the optimistic forecasts have created a positive atmosphere for the petrochemical industry in China.
Besides its rapid growth, the Chinese economy is shifting towards high-quality development, Fu said, adding that the policies of cutting overcapacity and focusing on innovation and green development have brought China's petrochemical industry to a new stage.
"The total import and export of petrochemicals of China stood at 583.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, increased by 22.1 percent. The import was 390.4 billion U.S. dollars," Fu said.
China's petrochemical market keeps growing, and it needs cooperation and collaboration with international petrochemical agencies and companies, he added.
The five-day WPC 2018, which began on Monday, attracted over 1,300 attendees from more than 40 countries and regions to share views about the development and outlook of the global petrochemical industry.
This is the second year that China Forum was included in the conference sponsored by the London-based information company IHS Markit.
