By Tu Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-27 13:48

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planner, drafted limits on the import of petrochemical equipment, according to today's Shanghai Securities News.

In the draft, NDRC said the percentage of home-made petrochemical equipment should reach 75 percent in the 11th Five-Year Program Period (2006-2010).

Insiders said the move may help domestic producers profit as much as 75 billion yuan if annual investment in equipment reaches 300 billion yuan.

The draft said petrochemical enterprises must turn in equipment lists when launching new projects.

According to the plan, the government will prohibit importing popular equipment that can be produced domestically. It will also limit imports of other equipment producible in China through taxation policies.

Experts involved in the draft said most of the equipment can be made domestically, and some are up to the world's advanced levels. This has greatly eased China's reliance on equipment imports, they said.

The draft also plans to boost the localization ability based on key projects of the three oil giants China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), PetroChina, and Sinopec.

Currently, CNPC is constructing three petrochemical projects in Fushun City, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, Southwest China's Sichuan and Daqing City, Northwest China's Heilongjiang Province.