URUMQI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A new ethylene project started production on Monday in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the Dushanzi Petrochemical Company of PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer.

Located in the city of Korla, southern Xinjiang, the project is expected to have an ethylene production capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year.

"Construction of the project began in April 2019, with an investment of 8.04 billion yuan (about 1.24 billion U.S. dollars). It is currently the largest refining and chemical project invested into by PetroChina in southern Xinjiang," said Xu Wenqing, general manager of the Dushanzi Petrochemical Company.

In order to protect the ecosystem in southern Xinjiang, the project has adopted global cutting-edge technologies to reduce oxynitride emissions, which is far below the national emission limit. Meanwhile, the wastewater reuse rate is over 95 percent.

The project, which can provide 1,200 jobs, will help lay the foundation for the development of industrial chains in southern Xinjiang, where industrial development is relatively low.

The annual output value of the project is estimated at 5 billion yuan and nearly 700 million yuan of taxes will be paid per year, the company said. Enditem