China plans to “steadily control” exports of some high carbon petrochemical products and will draw up a list of such goods, its industry ministry said on Thursday, as the country strives to deal with climate change.
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China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gases emitter, has cut export quotas of refined oil products such as gasoline and diesel to discourage plants from over-processing, as it has vowed to bring its carbon emissions to a peak by 2030.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) did not elaborate on the details of high carbon-intensive products export restrictions.
It said the country will strictly control new capacity in its oil refining industry and will accelerate the elimination of inefficient and outdated production capacity.
“We will promote refining and chemical projects to reduce the output of refined oil products and to increase chemical products, and to extend the petrochemical industry chain,” the ministry said in a statement.
China has been striving to modernize its oil refining industry and to produce more high-end fine chemical products to meet demand from fast-growing industries such as consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals.
Dozens of small, independent refineries in the eastern province of Shandong have been shut down to make way for a new petrochemical complex.
The ministry also urged refiners to adopt better technology to reduce emissions as China has vowed to continue improving air quality while meeting climate change pledges.
It aims to cut emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major pollutant from the oil refining sector, by ten percent by 2025 from 2020 levels.
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