China Achieves Breakthrough in High-end Chemical Material Production Technology

Today (March 22), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) announced that the country’s first fully domestically produced solution-based polyolefin elastomer industrialization plant has entered trial operation in Tianjin. The related production technology has achieved an original breakthrough, which will effectively reduce China’s reliance on imports of this material for strategic emerging industries such as photovoltaics.

Polyolefin elastomers are a high-end material with unique properties, combining the characteristics of plastic and rubber. They offer the processability of plastics and the high elasticity of rubber, making them key foundational materials for manufacturing flexible phone cases, photovoltaic module encapsulation films, and lightweight components for new energy vehicles. The Tianjin Petrochemical polyolefin elastomer plant, equipped with two 50,000-ton-per-year production lines, has an annual capacity of 100,000 tons. Its process technology, equipment, and control systems are all domestically developed, especially the advanced polymerization process that can produce polyolefin elastomers with different structures.

Driven by industries such as photovoltaics and new energy vehicles, China’s consumption of polyolefin elastomers increased from 640,000 tons in 2021 to an estimated 1.11 million tons in 2025, with an average annual compound growth rate of 14.7%, making China the world’s largest consumer market for these materials. Due to high technological barriers, China has long depended on imports of polyolefin elastomers, with an import dependency rate of 76% in 2025. As early as 2012, Chinese technicians began tackling key technological challenges in polyolefin elastomers. In 2025, Maoming Petrochemical’s industrial demonstration plant for polyolefin elastomers successfully started operation, laying the foundation for large-scale industrialization.

Wang Xiaofei, Director of the Research Institute of Sinopec Tianjin Branch, stated that after the plant’s commissioning, the products can be used in strategic emerging industries. The photovoltaic encapsulation films made with these materials have a light transmittance of ≥93.5%, aiding in vehicle lightweighting. The products, when applied, can reduce weight by over 15% compared to traditional materials. They can also be used for lithium battery separator coatings and cable insulation layers for charging piles, better meeting safety standards.

With the implementation and promotion of complete polyolefin elastomer technology and processes, Sinopec will have an annual capacity of 250,000 tons of polyolefin elastomers, reducing China’s import dependency to around 53%, and providing an important guarantee for the supply chain security of emerging industries such as new energy.

(CCTV reporters Zhu Jiang and Zhang Wei)

Source: CCTV News Client