Construction on an oil refinery project to be built and operated by China's state-owned Sinopec and Kuwait National Petroleum Co is under full swing in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.

The joint venture is the largest oil refinery project to date in China and is located on Donghai Island, the fifth largest island in China. The two companies each have a 50 percent share in the venture and will jointly operate it when finished.

The refinery will cover a little over 12 square kilometers and receive $9 billion of investment during the first phase of construction. When completed, it will be able to process up to 15 million tons of oil per year.

The two parties hope to complete the refinery's foundations and major structures by the end of this year. To achieve this, Sinopec has urged contractors to construct faster and has built a special working group responsible for allocating regional resources in July.

Basic works such as walls, revetments, main roads, drainage systems and hydraulic fills have been sped up. So far, optimized general drawing and planning have been completed and necessary adjustments have obtained administrative license.

Sand is spurted from thick pipelines to reclaim land, as part of an oil refinery project spearheaded by China and Kuwait. [Photo by Wu Zhiheng, Liu Jicheng/new.zjdaily.com.cn]