The national standard “Guidelines for the Comprehensive Evaluation of Chemical Industrial Parks” will be officially released within the year.

On May 15, an expert review meeting for the national standard “Guidelines for Comprehensive Evaluation of Chemical Industrial Parks” was held in Beijing, adopting a hybrid online–offline format. The experts concluded that the proposed indicators comprehensively cover all aspects of chemical park development, providing significant guidance and valuable reference for the construction of chemical parks across China. The expert panel also put forward specific recommendations for revision. In line with the standard’s development schedule, the Guidelines are expected to be officially released within the year. During the meeting, relevant officials stated that this year China will complete the evaluation and certification of all chemical industrial parks nationwide.

As a crucial platform for the transformation, upgrading, and green development of China’s petroleum and chemical industries, and as a key engine of regional growth, the importance of chemical industrial parks is self‑evident. Following the Xiangshui accident, the standardized development of these parks has drawn nationwide attention, prompting localities to accelerate the processes of park designation and evaluation. Meanwhile, in line with the implementation timetable for the “Relocation and Renovation of Hazardous Chemical Enterprises in Densely Populated Urban Areas,” China is set to complete the comprehensive evaluation and certification of all chemical industrial parks this year.

According to the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Relocation and Renovation of Hazardous Chemical Production Enterprises in Densely Populated Urban Areas,” by 2025, existing hazardous chemical production enterprises in urban areas that fail to meet safety and health‑protection distance requirements shall either undergo on‑site upgrades to comply with standards, relocate to designated, standardized chemical industrial parks, or shut down and exit the market. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, nearly 70 percent of the relocation and renovation work has been completed to date; among these efforts, park designation remains a major challenge and a key priority for this year.

Although some provinces have already established criteria for the designation of chemical industrial parks and are actively advancing related work, overall, the absence of a dedicated, comprehensive evaluation standard for chemical parks within the current national standards system leaves key issues—such as the selection of evaluation indicators and the choice of assessment methods—without clear normative guidance, giving rise to disputes in practice. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop a set of guidelines for the comprehensive evaluation of chemical industrial parks, establishing a benchmark for their standardized development, guiding relevant authorities and local governments in assessing the green and circular‑economy performance of these parks, and steering their high‑quality growth.

The “Guidelines for the Comprehensive Evaluation of Chemical Industrial Parks,” which has been approved in this review, assesses the overall development level of chemical industrial parks across eight first-level indicators: planning and layout, industrial economy, infrastructure, management system, safety and health, environmental protection, resource utilization, and the integration of informatization and industrialization. The guidelines are characterized by high scientific rigor and strong practical applicability. First, they exhibit high scientific validity: developed on the basis of a thorough synthesis of domestic and international theories and methodologies for comprehensive evaluation of industrial parks and industrial development, and informed by China’s practical experience in eco‑industrial park initiatives, circular‑economy transformation of industrial parks, and green chemical park projects, the standard ensures both scientific soundness and rationality. Second, they demonstrate strong applicability: taking into account the current state of chemical industrial park development in China, this standard was formulated by drawing on the achievements and lessons learned from relevant ministries and local authorities in conducting park evaluations. It provides detailed definitions for each indicator, along with corresponding calculation formulas and assessment methods, and integrates quantitative and qualitative approaches, thereby offering comprehensive and effective guidance for the identification and certification of chemical industrial parks.

This standard was proposed and managed by the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Hazardous Chemicals Management, and was drafted with the participation of the Chemical Park Working Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Development Co., Ltd., Huizhou Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone, the China Chemical Economic and Technological Development Center, China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation, and Zhongxin Kechuang (Beijing) Consulting Co., Ltd.

Source: Petroleum and Chemical Parks, China Chemical Industry News