In March 2025, the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), collectively known as China's 'Two Sessions' were held in Beijing.

During the Two Sessions, Ma Yongsheng, Member of the CPPCC, Academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Chairman of Sinopec, emphasized during an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online (people.cn) that new industrialization embodies both continuity and innovation. Advancing new industrialization for the energy and chemical industry requires prioritizing high-end development, intelligent transformation, and green transition.

Technological Innovation Drives High-End Development

Amid structural shifts in the global energy system, Ma Yongsheng emphasized that advancing the high-end development of the energy and chemical industry necessitates elevating the value chain and added value of products, achieving a profound transformation from scale-driven expansion to high-quality development.'

He stated that efforts should focus on offering more high-quality technological solutions. This includes persistently strengthening R&D activities in key upstream oil and gas technologies to expedite the establishment of a new-generation engineering process and high-performance equipment system to support the increase in oil and gas reserve growth and production enhancement; expediting the development of pioneering refining technologies through deepened fundamental theoretical research and intensified innovation in the integrated refining and petrochemical technologies, while strategically aligning refining strategies with the anticipated peak in refined oil demand; advancing breakthroughs in key technologies for high-end chemical materials and scaling up R&D for high-value-added products and accelerating technological exploration in emerging fields such as deep geothermal energy, hydrogen, circular economy, and biomanufacturing. In addition, the innovation consortiums should be established alongside enterprise-led mechanisms for deep integration of industry, academia, and research, to facilitate the transformation of a more scientific and technological achievements from prototypes into commercialized products.Digital-Intelligent Technologies Reshape Industrial Ecosystems

Digital-Intelligent Technologies Reshape Industrial Ecosystems

In response to the wave of new-generation AI advancements, Ma Yongsheng emphasized that digital technologies and artificial intelligence enhance oil and gas exploration efficiency and resource utilization. These innovations propel the refining and chemical industries from molecular/desktop-based refining processes to digital refining and digital chemical engineering, while upgrading standalone smart factories into ubiquitous smart interconnected plants, thereby establishing new competitive edges in the industry.

Ma Yongsheng emphasized that Sinopec will evaluate the support roles of new-generation information technologies to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. This initiative aims to build a revitalized ecosystem for the petrochemical sector, pioneering innovative digital trade and service models, and establish a cutting-edge industrial framework, thereby injecting new vitality into traditional industries through digital-intelligent empowerment integration. The company will drive high-quality AI adoption across core domains such as production, operations, and management, while leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI to redefine scientific research paradigms. This holistic approach will empower comprehensive technological transformation and strategic optimization.

Green Initiatives Nurture New Engines of Growth

Ma Yongsheng emphasized that advancing green development requires strengthening carbon asset management, accelerating green and low-carbon industrial transformation, and fostering green and low-carbon industries to continuously cultivate emerging growth drivers and expand development space.?

He proposed that the energy and chemical industry should focus on optimizing and adjustment of industrial and energy consumption structures, adopting a holistic approach to reduce carbon emissions, minimize pollution and expand green initiatives, and fostering sustainable growth from the source. This involves implementing energy-saving and consumption-reducing measures throughout the entire lifecycle of green oil and gas field production, promoting the multi-energy complementary development of mature oil and gas fields while fostering the integrated development of new oil and gas fields with renewable energy. The green refining and chemical sector should enhance energy efficiency and effectiveness across the feedstock-to-product chain in green refining industries to establish the green circular systems. Additionally, efforts should be accelerated to build a deeply integrated industry-academia-research innovation system, aiming to break through key core technologies and build green, low-carbon competitiveness through advanced green technologies.

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