Under the new development stage and the goal of "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality", As a traditional industry, how should the chemical industry proceed in the future. At the seminar on "Coordinated Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Transformation and Upgrading of Jiangsu Chemical Industry" held in Nanjing on the 8th  this month, the experts attending the seminar believed that during “the 14th Five-Year Plan” period, China's chemical industry urgently needs to aim at market demand, optimize industrial structure, adjust industrial layout, optimize industrial parks and promote green, low-carbon and high-quality development. Under the guidance of the major strategy of the “Yangtze River Economic Belt”, the chemical industry in provinces and cities along the Yangtze River is expected to take the lead in upgrading and transformation, and achieve coordinated development through strengthened cooperation.

Li Shousheng, President of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said at the meeting that during "the14th Five-Year Plan" period, the chemical industry will accelerate the large-scale structural reconstruction. We should focus on three aspects: making up for weaknesses, increasing strengthen and the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

In Li Shousheng's view, the proposal of the "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" goal has both challenges and opportunities for the chemical industry. On the one hand, as a traditional large carbon emitter, the chemical industry has an arduous task of emission reduction, on the other hand, the chemical industry also enjoys unique advantages in the resource utilization of carbon dioxide. He stressed that we should give full play to this unique advantages of the chemical industry and seek the physical and chemical utilization of carbon dioxide in the chemical industry. Only when we find the technologies and products for the resource utilization of carbon dioxide can we take the initiative of carbon neutralization.

Qiao Xu, Headmaster of Nanjing Tech University, believes that in order to meet the "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" challenge, the chemical industry should first adhere to the path of energy conservation and emission reduction, improve the level of process technology and realize green production; Second, we should seize the opportunity of chemical carbon reduction, expand the industrial chain of carbon capture and utilization, and enhance the added value of products. He believes that the core of chemical industry is separation and reaction, which can be applied to the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide. Chemical industry has great potential in the process of carbon neutralization.

For the layout adjustment of petrochemical industry in the new era, Zheng Baoshan, vice president of China National Petroleum & Chemical Planning Institute, believes that four principles should be followed, namely, high-quality upgrading and development, high-standard and standardized development, high-level aggregation development and high-standard green development. For the layout optimization of the chemical industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Zheng Baoshan believes that while accelerating the construction of coastal petrochemical bases and giving full play to the leading role of large coastal petrochemical bases, it is necessary to control new chemical projects along the river. In addition, we should improve the development level of the park and focus on the development of high-end materials and chemicals.

Zhang Hua, President of Sichuan Chemical Industry Association, believes that the chemical industry in provinces and cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has its own characteristics. We should strengthen the circulation of factors and promote the coordinated development of the chemical industry in the East and West, which will help all regions give full play to their respective advantages, also optimize resource allocation and industrial layout, establish a complete domestic industrial chain, create a domestic cycle and effectively respond to various economic risks and challenges.

As a traditional chemical industry province, Jiangsu Province is vigorously promoting the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of the chemical industry. Ma Xiaoping, a secondary inspector of Jiangsu Provincial Department of industry and information technology, said that during “the 14th Five-Year Plan” period, Jiangsu Province will focus on three aspects: Overall Optimization of industrial layout, construction of high-end chemical industry system and improvement of safety and environmental protection level, and systematically reconstruct a green, safe and modern high-end chemical industry in line with the law of industrial development, circular development and perfect industrial chain.

According to Zhao Weijian, President of Jiangsu Chemical Industry Association, the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of Jiangsu chemical industry depond on the four key words: high-end, digitization, safety and greening, that is, increasing the supply of high-end products, implementing intelligent operation, strengthening intrinsic safety and developing green circular economy.

The seminar on "Coordinated Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Transformation and Upgrading of Jiangsu Chemical Industry" was jointly planned by China Chemical Environmental Protection Association, Economic Think Tank Division of China Economic Information Service and Jiangsu Chemical Industry Association. The meeting invited leaders of national and Jiangsu provincial chemical industry authorities, experts, scholars and entrepreneurs to discuss the transformation and upgrading of the chemical industry during “the 14th Five-Year Plan” period, so as to help the national and local chemical industry achieve high-quality development.