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Chemical parks are the area zoned by local governments for the development of chemical industry, equipped with necessary support infrastructure. In China, chemical parks once were considered as “shelters” protecting chemical enterprises from closing down, have become the new target of the national environmental protection census.
Some chemical parks pose risks to the environment, due to their poor infrastructure, unscientific management, and insufficient supervision. The increased stringency of China’s environmental protection campaign could mean many parks will require major updates or even closure.
Currently, China is strengthening regulations and management on chemical industrial parks. For instance, in the next two years, Shandong aims to reduce the number of chemical parks to less than 100 and to shut down 20% more chemical plants, according to Shandong’s vice-governor Wang Shujian on 15 May. Currently, Shandong has 199 chemicals parks and a total of 7595 chemical plants. Based on the goals of the environmental protection campaign we expect nearly 50% of these chemical parks and more than 1500 plants will have their licenses rescinded and required to make appropriate rectifications or be closed down for good.
Shandong is also speeding up the relocation of chemical plants to chemical parks. The relocation plan is expected to be released before this September. After enterprises move to chemical parks, they are subject to re-evaluations including workplace safety, environmental protection, investment density, tax income, etc.
Jiangsu Province has started its environmental protection inspection and assigned 3 inspection teams to the task. A number of listed enterprises had their production activities suspended. By June, Guangdong province plans to finish its list of enterprises to be rectified. By the end of 2018 Guangdong also plans to finish the relocation of companies managing hazardous chemicals which pose huge risks.
The 13th Five-Year plan emphasizes the need to relocate chemical production to chemical parks. MEP data shows that about 7000 chemical plants were closed from 2011 to 2015. For Shandong province, more than 1000 plants shut down with an additional 125 plants forced to move to chemical parks (since the year 2015). The number of plants and park closures is expected to continue to increase over the next several years as China intensifies its campaign.
