Jiangsu Province will shut down 1,000 chemical enterprises within three years to promote the industry’s transformation and upgrading.

　　On September 4, the Jiangsu Provincial Government held a press conference to publicly release details of the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Transformation, Upgrading, and High-Quality Development of the Province’s Chemical, Steel, Coal, and Power Industries” (hereinafter referred to as the “Implementation Opinions”).
　　According to the Implementation Opinions, Jiangsu will shut down 1,000 chemical enterprises that fail to meet environmental standards or pose significant safety risks over the next three years. Gao Qing, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Economy and Information Technology, stated: “In the future, applying for new chemical projects in Jiangsu may be even more difficult than climbing to heaven.”
　　Key Working Requirements Upheld in the “Implementation Opinions”
　　In this round of efforts to promote the transformation and upgrading of the chemical, steel, coal, and power sectors, Jiangsu Province is focusing on restructuring industrial value chains, making rational adjustments to the production layouts of industrial enterprises, optimizing the spatial organization and geographic distribution of industries, fostering deep collaboration across the entire industrial chain, and cultivating advanced, green, safe, and environmentally friendly industrial clusters. Specifically, this includes:
　　(1) Optimize spatial planning. In the Yangtze River region, strictly limit and reduce chemical and steel production capacity, while encouraging the development of high‑level chemical and steel industrial bases in coastal areas that possess sufficient environmental capacity and favorable development conditions. This will help clarify industrial positioning, rationalize regional division of labor, and establish an industrial spatial layout characterized by a “1+3” functional zone model.
　　(2) No “gradual relocation” will be undertaken. In this round of transformation, upgrading, and spatial realignment across the chemical, steel, coal, and power sectors, due consideration has been given to regional natural endowments and comparative advantages, with a coordinated assessment of river, sea, lake, and other resource conditions. For areas along the Yangtze River, the focus is on greening, lightening, optimizing, and elevating; for coastal industries, the emphasis is on high‑start‑point, high‑standard planning and layout, so as to achieve rational division of labor and differentiated development. This adjustment is a strategic realignment anchored in industrial chains, innovation chains, and the realities of regional development—far from a static reshuffling, and certainly not a mere “relocation of enterprises.”
　　(3) Uphold a unified approach across Jiangsu Province. The Implementation Opinions explicitly set forth consistent safety and environmental protection standards for both the coastal and river‑front regions, ensuring that Jiangsu adopts “a single standard” throughout the province. Going forward, whether in the course of industrial‑layout adjustments, project implementation, or during enterprises’ production and operations, all areas of Jiangsu will apply this unified safety and environmental protection standard—eliminating any dual‑track system of differing standards between the river‑front and coastal zones.
　　In the long run, adjustments to industrial layouts will create more room for regional and corporate development, foster more competitive and concentrated industrial clusters, and better serve and safeguard people’s livelihoods.
　　Main Objectives of the Implementation Opinions
　　Strengthen regional coordination, make concerted efforts to consolidate fragmented production capacity, and scale up high‑quality capacity. Employ a comprehensive “combination punch” of administrative licensing and law enforcement—covering environmental protection, energy consumption, safety, and quality—to further shut down outdated capacity, ban illegal and non‑compliant operations, and liquidate “zombie enterprises.” By 2020, Jiangsu Province will have fully completed the special campaign to implement the “Four Batches” initiative for chemical enterprises: over the next three years, it will close 1,000 chemical plants that fail to meet environmental standards or pose significant safety risks; the number of hazardous‑chemical terminals and storage facilities along the Yangtze River will be reduced rather than expanded; the rate of chemical producers and liquid‑chemical terminals located within designated industrial parks will reach 50%; and all substandard chemical industrial parks will be shut down. Steel production capacity will be curtailed, with total output capped at 115 million tons, ensuring the fulfillment of the national target of reducing 17.5 million tons of excess capacity assigned to Jiangsu during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Additionally, more than 2 million kilowatts of obsolete coal‑fired generating units will be decommissioned, and Jiangsu’s total coal consumption will be cut by 32 million tons compared with 2016 levels.
　　In addition, a range of measures will be implemented to substantially reduce overall pollutant emissions: by 2020, VOC emissions from the chemical industry will be cut by 40% compared with 2015 levels; total emissions of chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen will decline by 20%; and total emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter from the coal-fired power and steel industries will be reduced by 30%, 50%, and 50%, respectively.
　　Main contents of the “Implementation Opinions”: Chemical industry sector
　　(1) At a high starting point, simultaneously advance the strategic transformation of riverside areas and the strategic spatial planning of coastal regions. Adhering to intensive, specialized, and high‑end development, we will focus on reducing the overall scale of the chemical industry while improving quality, expanding product variety, and optimizing its structure. In riverside areas, priority will be given to implementing plans for capacity reduction, relocation, upgrading, and technological enhancement; in coastal areas, emphasis will be placed on promoting the standardized development of advanced, high‑end, and environmentally friendly chemical industries, with stringent standards applied to attract industrial projects that demonstrate strong market prospects, superior technological and process capabilities, and minimal safety and environmental compliance burdens. Notably, the construction of new chemical parks or enterprises within 1 kilometer of the main stem of the Yangtze River and its major tributaries is strictly prohibited. Chemical enterprises located within this 1‑kilometer zone but meeting the necessary conditions are encouraged to relocate beyond this boundary, or to move into compliant industrial parks. For those enterprises whose wastewater fails to consistently meet discharge standards, whose wastewater treatment facilities remain unbuilt or inadequately equipped and improperly operated, or which resort to clandestine discharge via underground pipes, seepage wells, or seepage pits, administrative orders shall be issued to suspend production, requiring them to vacate their original sites within a specified timeframe and relocate to compliant parks. If, after rectification and upgrading, they still fail to meet the required standards, they shall be ordered to shut down in accordance with the law.
　　(2) Standardize and upgrade the development level of chemical industrial parks by conducting a comprehensive review of the 54 chemical parks in Jiangsu Province, establishing an exit mechanism for such parks, and resolutely phasing out those that fail to meet regulatory standards.
　　(3) Accelerate the phase-out of inefficient production capacity, rigorously implement Jiangsu Province’s special campaign to “phase out a batch, upgrade a batch, relocate a batch, and consolidate a batch” among chemical enterprises, and resolutely eliminate relatively outdated and excess capacity.
　　(4) Optimize and adjust the layout of hazardous‑chemical terminals, promote their integration into industrial parks and zones, establish a coordinated development mechanism linking hazardous‑chemical terminals with chemical industrial parks, carry out consolidation efforts for hazardous‑chemical terminals, and enhance the public support capabilities and standardized management of such terminals within the parks.
　　What specific arrangements and considerations are in place as we advance the transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development of the chemical industry?
　　The provincial economic and information technology system of Jiangsu will earnestly implement Document No. 32 issued by the General Offices of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Government, focusing on advancing the transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development of the province’s chemical industry across six key areas.
　　(1) Actively promote the strategic transformation of the chemical industry along the river. In key areas along the river, implement plans to reduce capacity, relocate facilities, upgrade operations, and enhance competitiveness; deepen industrial restructuring, with a focus on transitioning to emerging chemical sectors such as new chemical materials, high-end specialty and functional chemicals, and innovative, energy‑saving, and environmentally friendly chemical products. Accelerate the move up the value chain and innovation chain toward higher‑end segments, and cultivate agglomeration advantages and distinctive brand strengths.
　　(2) Promote the strategic upgrading of the coastal chemical industry. Focus on developing advanced, efficient, and green chemical industries; launch a number of major chemical projects with strong market prospects, cutting-edge process technologies, and state-of-the-art safety and environmental standards; and accelerate the development of the Lianyungang National Petrochemical Industry Base. Conduct a special rectification campaign targeting coastal chemical parks (concentration zones), leveraging one year to vigorously advance the construction and improvement of their safety, environmental protection, and information‑technology infrastructure. Shut down or consolidate low‑end, inefficient enterprises within these parks, free up space, and effectively elevate the level of standardized development of coastal chemical parks.
　　(3) Implement a comprehensive evaluation of chemical industrial parks across the board. Conduct a standardized, comprehensive assessment of each chemical industrial park in Jiangsu Province: those receiving favorable ratings will be granted priority policy support to guide agglomeration and cluster development; those meeting the required standards will undergo further optimization and upgrading; and those failing to meet the criteria and remaining non‑compliant after a prescribed rectification period will have their designation as chemical industrial parks revoked.
　　(4) Continue to deepen the “263” initiative for reducing and upgrading industries, as well as the special campaign targeting chemical enterprises under the “Four Batches” approach. By comprehensively applying standards related to energy consumption, environmental protection, product quality, workplace safety, and technological advancement, we will promote the orderly phase-out of low-end production capacity and ensure that all facilities required to be shut down are indeed closed. This year, Jiangsu Province is committed to closing an additional 750+ chemical enterprises; from January to July 2018, 568 such closures have already been completed.
　　(5) Strengthen industry access controls. Fully implement the “Jiangsu Province Catalogue of Industries Subject to Restriction, Phasing-Out, and Prohibition (First Batch),” rigorously manage both entry and exit criteria, and curb low‑level, redundant project development.
　　(6) Support enterprises in pursuing innovative development, focus on upgrading process technologies and equipment, and continuously advance the level of intelligent manufacturing in the chemical industry.

Source: Excerpt from the Jiangsu Provincial Government Press Conference