Qinzhou will build a manufacturing plant for 1,3 propanediol (PDO). PDO is a common ingredient in cosmetics and personal care products such as lotions, cleansers and other skin treatments, among other uses.

The project is adopting a unique "glycerol + PDO fermentation technology" developed by Professor Liu Dehua's team from Tsinghua University, making a breakthrough in China's key technology for high-end fiber raw materials.

The facility will go up in the Qinzhou Port area of the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone(FTZ). Costing 450 million yuan ($62 million), it will have a projected annual output of 20,000 metric tons of PDO.

The plant is being jointly built by the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park Investment Holding Group, Guangdong Guanghong Asset Management and Guangxi Qingda Zhixing Biotechnology.

Officials sign the cooperation agreement of the PDO project. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_df8bc987e060]

Once completed, it's expected to strengthen the integration with the chemicals industry supply chain in the Qinzhou Port area of the Guangxi FTZ and promote the development of Qinzhou's new bio-based materials bases.

The China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park Investment Holding Group will use PDO as a raw material to help the Qinzhou Port area of the Guangxi FTZ form a PDO and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT)-based production and processing center. PTT is a thermoplastic that can be spun into both fibers and yarns.

It will promote the development of green chemicals industry in the Qinzhou Port area of the Guangxi FTZ.