(Yicai Global) May 20 -- Zhejiang Petrochemical's oil  refining project with an annual capacity of 40 million tons on Zhoushan has finished  construction and equipment installation in the first stage and will start running soon,   Ningbo, Zhejiang province-based Rongsheng Petrochemical, which is ZPC's  controlling shareholder, announced this afternoon. 

The project, on the island of Zhoushan in southeastern China's Zhejiang province south of Shanghai at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay, has total investment of around CNY173 billion (USD25 billion). It is not only the largest petrochemical project that Chinese private firms have invested in, but its production scale is also one of the biggest worldwide. It has 22 refining and 15 chemical units, and its two stages have a similar scale and will be able to refine 40 million tons oil upon completion, the released data show.

ZPC will also be able to produce 10.4 million tons of aromatic hydrocarbon and 2.8 million tons of ethylene a year, and this enhances the firm's petrochemical production chain.

Formed in June 2015, ZPC is a privately controlled, mixed-ownership firm. Zhoushan Ocean Comprehensive Development and Investment under the Zhoushan government holds a 9 percent stake in it. The government signed an agreement with world petroleum colossus Saudi Arabian Oil -- commonly known as Aramco -- to sell its stake in February.

Aramco has become ZPC's long-term crude oil supplier and will provide its other Asian clients with services relying on ZPC's large crude oil storage facilities.

Editor: Ben Armour