Feature: Chinese company kicks off 1.5-bln-USD methanol project in U.S. state of Louisiana

St. James was a little-known parish along the Mississippi River in the U.S. southern state of Louisiana. But now it is well-known as it has attracted the largest Chinese-invested green field project in the Mexican Gulf Coast region.

Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co., Ltd., a private company based in eastern China's Shandong province, Friday held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the kick-off of its 1.5-billion-U.S.-dollar methanol project in St. James Parish.

The ceremony attracted more than 100 people, including officials from Louisiana State, the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, the U.S. Department of Commerce and local community leaders and business partners of its U.S. subsidiary Yuhuang Chemical Inc.(YCI), which will oversee the project with an annual capacity of 1.8 million tons of methanol once it is completed in 2018.

Wang Jinshu, chairman of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co., Ltd., is confident that this project will be a great success and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples.

"It's estimated that China will need more than 20 million tons of methanol per year after 2017, and it's very likely that we (our U.S. company) will export all the products to China. This will help improve the trade balance and reduce the trade deficit between China and the United States," Wang said.

"This project will be mutually beneficial for the long-term interests of our two countries and the development of China-U.S. relations," he said.

Wang told Xinhua that the Chinese government has supported and encouraged private companies like Yuhuang to adopt the strategy of internationalization over the past decade.

"The government has attached great importance to this project, and we, of course, will do our best to complete it as scheduled," he said.

In Wang's opinion, the project has convinced people that China's economic growth is not a threat to the world, but will help develop a better and sound world economy.

Wang said that China and the United States, the two most powerful economies in the world, should work together to continue to build a new type of major-country relationship, which will no doubt generate win-win outcomes for both countries.

Calling the project "a shining stone" in U.S.-China economic exchanges, Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said the ceremony comes at an opportune time as Xi will pay a state visit to the United States next week, ushering in the establishment of a new type of major-country relationship and a new era.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States in 1979, bilateral trade has increased more than 200 times to 555 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

The United States is now a major source of foreign investment for China, while Chinese cumulative investments have grown rapidly to about 78 billion dollars by June this year. For Louisiana, China is the No. 1 export market, and for China, Louisiana is the fourth largest exporter of all 50 U.S. states.

Li believed that this project not only marks the first Chinese-invested green field project in the state, but also represents the largest Chinese- invested project in the southern United States.

Meanwhile, John McKiel, a senior international investment specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce, said that foreign direct investment (FDI) has become an essential part of U.S. economic growth, and China is a fast-growing source of foreign investment in America.

Chinese government data showed that Chinese investment in the United States reached 4.43 billion dollars in the first eight months of 2015, up 35.9 percent from a year ago.

For Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne, the project is "a wonderful and exciting development" for his state.

"The scope of the project is massive...(The) construction (of the plant) is estimated to create 2,300 jobs for our state," he said.

The past 18 months have witnessed significant progress made by Yuhuang, which successfully purchased a green field of 1,300 acres, got the air permit, completed all the basic design and FEED (front end engineering design), and inked a 20-year pipeline contract with U.S. natural gas company Williams to secure future gas transportation, said Charlie Yao, chief executive officer of Yuhuang Chemical Inc.

"Looking forward, once the sugar cane field is cleared, the construction will start in earnest within two months. Our objective is to begin delivering products in the first quarter of 2018," he said.

Yao said that Wang's vision is to build a major chemical complex here. After methanol plant No. 1, they will build plants No. 2 and No. 3. Moreover, the company plans to implement many projects in the parish and state.

Founded in 1986, Yuhuang now has 13 subsidiaries with more than 5,600 employees in China. The company is realizing its Chinese dream while helping Americans make their dreams come true. Endi