Update: ExxonMobil's landmark chemical complex begins operation in China
The move highlights ExxonMobil's confidence in the world's second-largest economy and comes amid China's ongoing efforts to promote high-standard opening up and attract foreign investment.
Located in the Daya Bay Petrochemical Industrial Park in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, the first phase of the project consists of a flexible feedstock steam cracker with an annual capacity of 1.6 million tonnes of ethylene, a key building block for plastics and fibers used in a wide range of products like packaging.
The site also houses production units for high-performance polyethylene and polypropylene.
Hailing the establishment of this complex as "the latest chapter" in the long story of ExxonMobil's presence in China, the company's senior vice president Jack Williams said at the launch ceremony that the project will serve as an anchor for Guangdong to develop a robust petrochemical industry.
Construction of the Huizhou complex began in April 2020 and involves two phases. Remarkably, the project progressed from negotiations to groundbreaking in just 18 months, a process that typically takes five years.
Li Xingjun, chairman of ExxonMobil (Huizhou) Chemical Co., Ltd., attributed this rapid progress to Guangdong's pro-business environment, calling the province "one of the world's leading manufacturing hubs, with a strong industrial base, comprehensive supply chains, and a high degree of market openness."
"The easing of foreign investment restrictions and institutional innovation have created a more transparent, fair and predictable investment environment, which has strengthened our confidence in the Chinese market," he said.
Huizhou, a coastal city in southern China, is home to a cluster of major petrochemical companies, including Shell, BASF and Clariant. Within this ecosystem, the Daya Bay Petrochemical Industrial Park has become one of China's leading refining and chemical production centers, with an annual oil refining capacity of 22 million tonnes and ethylene production capacity of 3.8 million tonnes.
ExxonMobil's chemical complex is expected to boost China's ethylene production capacity and elevate the technological standards of its petrochemical sector, supporting key industries such as electronic chemicals, fine chemicals and biomedicine, said Ji Hongbing, vice president of the Guangdong Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association.
The launch comes amid China's ongoing efforts to improve access for foreign investors. The country has twice reduced its negative list for foreign investment since 2021. All restrictions on foreign access to the manufacturing sector have been lifted, and further liberalization has occurred in agriculture and services. Pilot initiatives in healthcare and value-added telecommunications have opened new opportunities for foreign businesses.
ExxonMobil is among a number of multinational firms investing in China, where GDP grew 5.3 percent year on year in the first half of 2025.
Earlier this year, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche announced a 2.04 billion yuan (about 285 million U.S. dollars) investment in a new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, while German chemical company BASF also committed 500 million yuan to expand its Cellasto plant in the city.
In the first five months of 2025, 24,018 new foreign-invested enterprises were established on the Chinese mainland, up 10.4 percent year on year.
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FIRST PERSON My parents sacrificed a lot to build our Canadian dream. What do I owe them in their golden years?
I never thought the price of celery would send me spiralling. I was on my weekly Sunday phone call with my mother when she asked, Rachel, you know how much a box of celery was? She didn't wait for me to answer. It was $100! Before, it was $23 a box! I did the math in my head. A more than 300 per cent increase. No wonder my mother was upset. Like many Canadians, my family and I feel the strain on our wallets whenever we step into a grocery store. What used to be a routine errand has become a source of stress, careful calculation and Remember when this used to be half the price? But while I can choose to skip the fancy cut of beef or go without mangos for a week, my parents can't make concessions. My mom and dad own a Chinese restaurant in Leamington, Ont. — a business they've operated for 34 years. They don't have the luxury of opting out when the cost of ingredients spikes thanks to inflation — they have a menu to honour, a hungry customer base to satisfy and razor-thin margins to somehow stretch even thinner. It's only become worse since the pandemic. My mom and dad tell me that everything — from oil to takeout containers — has tripled in price. Beef, once $6.60 a kilogram, is now closer to $15.40. Everything go up, up, up, my mom says to me, shaking her head. On their day off, Tran and Hy Phan, both in their 60s, dedicate hours to making hundreds of egg rolls in preparation for another busy week at the restaurant. They usually make around 700 egg rolls on Mondays. Photo: Submitted by Rachel Phan For years, my parents resisted raising the prices on their menu because they were afraid of losing customers. Mom and Dad are all too aware that some customers unfairly expect ethnic restaurants like ours to be cheap and plentiful — certainly cheaper than Italian, French or even fast-casual Western food. If it's too expensive, people won't come back, my proud and stubborn dad would say, while my more pragmatic mother grew increasingly exasperated. I don't care what he says. I'm going to make the prices go up, she said to me once, before dropping her voice to a whisper. Don't tell your dad. I was relieved when they made the difficult decision to raise prices together, no subterfuge necessary. But even with the price adjustments, they're not making what they used to. Sometimes, Mom will find an irresistible deal on beef and buy thousands of dollars worth of it, filling every inch of our restaurant's walk-in freezer. Phan's mom buys in bulk whenever beef is on sale — a practical way to manage rising food costs and keep the family restaurant stocked. Photo: Submitted by Rachel Phan We all know this isn't sustainable. My parents are in their 60s and they've spent more than three decades in the kitchen, working themselves to the bone day and night. They have no pension and no meaningful retirement savings, having poured everything they've earned right back into their business and kids. All they have is the hope that one day they'll be able to retire — and that those same kids will take care of them when the time comes. This is the part I'm ashamed of admitting: I'm terrified. Their impending retirement and golden years fill me with equal parts relief and dread. Relief because after seeing their bodies break down with arthritis, fatigue and age, I'm ready for them to stop. To finally relax. That makes the dread I feel even more shameful. As the child with the most financial security, I anticipate their care will largely fall on me when they retire. Every day, I am haunted by the question: What do I owe my parents? Enlarge image (new window) Phan's family celebrates her sister's prom in 1998. Rachel, third from the left, grew up in her parents' Western Chinese restaurant in southern Ontario. Photo: Submitted by Rachel Phan Enlarge image (new window) Phan, in the red dress, and her husband, Michael, serve tea to her parents during the Chinese tea ceremony at their wedding reception in 2021. Photo: Submitted by Rachel Phan I know it's a question I, and so many other children of immigrants, have to wrestle with constantly. In many Asian cultures, looking after your aging parents financially is expected. Given how much my parents have sacrificed — fleeing war, becoming refugees, resettling in Canada, working non-stop since arriving in their new country to give their children a better life — how can my answer not be: I owe them everything? But what that looks like in practice is anyone's guess. I live in Toronto, where everything — from rent to takeout — is already expensive. While my husband and I live comfortably, I'm still a writer. I'm not wealthy by any means, and I definitely don't have the kind of income that could easily absorb the needs of two more people, no matter how much my mother protests that she doesn't eat a lot. WATCH | Younger Canadians are worried about retirement costs: With every phone call updating me on the price of produce, I'm reminded that one day soon I'll be caring for two aging parents with no financial cushion of their own. It's overwhelming. It's stressful. I'm scared not just of the responsibility, but of what it might mean for the life I've built. I feel guilty for feeling resentment over this arrangement. I didn't volunteer to be my parents' retirement plan, but who am I to complain? All I can do is encourage them to save more and raise their prices when they can. It's as much for their sakes as it is for mine. Enlarge image (new window) The Phan family, joined by Rachel's husband, Michael, pose for a photo together in their restaurant, China Village, in 2017. Taken just moments before the start of New Year's Eve dinner service — the busiest night of the year for the restaurant — it captures a brief calm before the chaos. Photo: Submitted by Rachel Phan These days, when I call my mom, she still updates me on the price of celery. It fluctuates and hasn't come back to the pre-pandemic price of $23. We sigh. We repeat, Everything is so expensive now. There's no clean, clear-cut answer to what comes next. But I do know this: my parents have always shown up for me, even in unfathomable circumstances. It's my time and duty to do the same for them. Even though I'm scared, even though I don't know how, I'll show up. Rachel Phan (new window) · Freelance contributor Rachel Phan (潘美美) is a Toronto-based Chinese Canadian author. Her debut book, Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging, was released in April 2025.
