Chongqing balances economic, green efforts

A BASF safety helmet was presented to Li Dianxun, vice-mayor of Chongqing, on Sept 15, 2018, by BASF SE Asia-Pacific, a German chemical company.

The helmet was presented by Sanjeev Gandhi, a member of BASF's board of directors, during a meeting of the Chongqing Mayor's International Advisory Council in recognition of the company's 5 million safe working hours during the production of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, or MDI, at the BASF facility in Chongqing.

MDI is an important component of polyurethane, a plastic material that contributes to improved insulation, which helps save energy in buildings, and provides lighter materials for cars.

The chemical company's 8 billion yuan ($114 million) project is one example of local government efforts to balance economic development and environmental protection.

BASF's Chongqing facility, located in Changshou district, is about 60 kilometers east of the city's downtown and on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, which provides water to more than 400 million people.

It has drawn a lot of attention since it cleared China's environmental impact assessment in 2009. BASF started its MDI production at the Chongqing facility in 2015.

Changshou, which means "longevity" in Chinese, has been a chemical manufacturing hub since the 1950s, thanks to its ample water resources and natural gas reserves. Its economic zone and technological area has attracted chemical giants, including BASF, BP and Sinopec.

Ecological and environmental issues have always been priorities in the district because they are critical and sensitive, said Zhao Shiqing, head of Changshou.

"We have invested over 10 billion yuan to build the environment risk control system in the industrial zone," Zhao said. "So far, there has been no major environmental emergency in many years."

The Yangtze, the third-longest river in the world, flows 6,300 kilometers from glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau through Chongqing, Wuhan of Hubei province and Nanjing of Jiangsu province, before reaching the East China Sea in Shanghai.