China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or known as the Sinopec, launches on Monday a one-million-ton ethylene project in Binghai New Zone, north China's Tianjin Municipality.

The largest ever industrial project in Tianjin, the ethylene project will cost 26 billion yuan (about 3.25 billion U.S. dollars) and is due in 2009.

The project is composed of an ethylene production project, an oil refining improvement project and an accessory thermoelectricity reform project, said Sinopec General Manager Chen Tonghai.

He said the project will raise the ethylene production capacity of Sinopec's Tianjin branch to 1.2 million tons every year and its comprehensive oil refining capacity will reach 12.5 million tons every year.

The project is expected to contribute four-percentage-point increase to the city's industrial output value every year and will bring about another 100 billion yuan (about 12.5 billion U.S. dollars) related investment.

The petrochemical industry is an important mainstay industry of the national economy and the ethylene production is a key index to measure a country's petrochemical development.

Chen said this ethylene project will be of great importance to adjust China's petrochemical industrial structure and upgrade the international competitiveness of China's petrochemical industry.