Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have jointly issued the Plan for Laying out the Innovation-driven Development of the Modern Coal Chemical Industry (the "Plan").
The Plan ascertains eight core tasks, including driving ahead the integrated development of related industries at a more rapid pace, transforming competitive enterprises by tapping their potentials and transformation, and vigorously enhancing the capacity in complete set of technologies and equipment, and sets forth another six security measures, such as tightening requirements on project construction, standardizing procedures for approval and administration, and pushing forward the reasonable allocation of resources. Also, the Plan calls for revising and improving standards on safety protection, discharge of pollutants and protection of water resources as soon as possible, further enhancing the entry threshold for modern coal chemical projects in respect of safety, environmental protection and protection of water resources, guiding enterprises to optimize their production processes, improve the equipment selection and the selection of materials, raise the design criteria and construction quality, strengthen the operational management and regulate the treatment facilities, and earnestly implementing the policy of "Three Synchronies" for safety and environmental protection facilities and the pollutant discharge licensing system. Further, the Plan requires enterprises to establish separate systems for self-monitoring, information disclosure, statistical records and standing books, and regular reporting.