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–adjacent regions, 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 primarily 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 holistic assessment of river, sea, lake, and waterway resources. For areas along the Yangtze River, the focus is on greening, lightening, optimizing, and elevating; for coastal industries, the emphasis lies in high‑start‑up, high‑standard planning and spatial arrangement, 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 the Yangtze River‑adjacent regions, ensuring that Jiangsu adopts “a single standard” throughout the province. Going forward, whether in the course of industrial restructuring, project development, or enterprise operations, all areas of Jiangsu will apply this unified safety and environmental protection standard, thereby eliminating any dual‑track system of differing standards along the river and along the coast.
　　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 phase out “four batches” of 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, ensure that the number of hazardous‑chemical terminals and storage facilities along the Yangtze River only declines and does not increase, raise the rate of chemical producers and liquid‑chemical terminals located within industrial parks to 50%, and shut down all substandard chemical industrial parks. Steel production capacity will be reduced, with total output capped at 115 million tons, thereby ensuring the fulfillment of the national target of 17.5 million tons of capacity reduction 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 overall capacity, improving quality, expanding product variety, and optimizing industrial structure in the chemical sector. 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 green chemical industries, with stringent criteria for attracting projects that boast strong market prospects, sound technological and process standards, and minimal safety and environmental risks. Notably, the construction of new chemical parks or enterprises within one kilometer of the main stem of the Yangtze River and its major tributaries is strictly prohibited. Chemical enterprises located within one kilometer of the Yangtze’s main stem or key tributaries, provided they meet the necessary conditions, are encouraged to relocate beyond this zone or to move into compliant industrial parks. For those enterprises whose wastewater fails to consistently meet discharge standards, whose treatment facilities remain unbuilt or inadequately equipped, whose operations are malfunctioning, or which resort to clandestine discharge via underground pipes, seepage wells, or seepage pits, administrative orders shall mandate production suspension, set deadlines for relocation from their original sites to compliant parks, and require rectification and upgrading. If, after such measures, compliance remains unattainable, closure shall be ordered 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), dedicating 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, reclaim vacated 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 capacity reduction and 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 facilitate the orderly phase-out of low-end production capacity and ensure that all facilities meeting closure criteria are shut down. This year, Jiangsu Province is committed to closing an additional 750+ chemical enterprises; from January to July 2018, 568 such enterprises have already been closed.
　　(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