Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou, southern China's Guangdong Province, a sign of China's rebounding economy as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic subdues.

A special "cloud ceremony" was held online with video connections linking the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, and places in Beijing and Dallas.

The complex, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will be built in two phases. The first phase with a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker and down-stream production equipment is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin.

An annual operating income of 39 billion yuan (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) and 7.3 billion yuan of taxes will be expected when the first phase reaches designed capacity.

ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods in Dallas said via video link that the project reflects China's growing commitment to foreign direct investment and fostering innovation.

Infrastructure and public facilities built at the national, regional and local levels provide critical support while the new laws and regulations further improve China's economic competitiveness, he added.

"All of this creates an environment that enables ExxonMobil to continue our strategic long-term investments," the chairman said.

China is a long-term strategic development platform of ExxonMobil, and the groundbreaking is a milestone in the implementation of the megaproject, said Fernando Vallina, chairman of ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

Ma Xingrui, governor of Guangdong, said local governments have effectively overcome difficulties brought by the epidemic to complete preparatory works including project approval and sea reclamation.

It took only about 18 months for such a mammoth project to kick off, which demonstrated high efficiency on the part of China, Ma said at the ceremony.

The provincial government said it will do whatever it can to make sure the chemical complex goes into operation by 2023.

POST-EPIDEMIC OPPORTUNITY

As the COVID-19 epidemic wanes in China, the resumption of work and production has been accelerated. The operation of foreign-owned companies in China also began to gain momentum as foreign investors' confidence rose and a batch of projects landed.

The coastal city of Huizhou neighbors Shenzhen, China's innovation hub and Dongguan, known as "the world's factory". Inside the city's Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park are clustered petrochemical giants such as Shell, BASF, Clariant, Mitsubishi and LG.

In the meantime, ExxonMobil's footprint is also expanding in the world's largest petrochemical market. Over the past half-century, its business in China has stretched to various fields of the energy industry, with production bases built in Fujian, Tianjin and Jiangsu, and a major technology center in Shanghai.

The first phase of the Huizhou project with an initial investment of 34.3 billion yuan involves an ethylene unit and middle and downstream polyethylene and polypropylene plants. A variety of chemical products to be produced are widely used in industries and daily life.

Local suppliers and workers will be employed at the preparatory and construction stages, which is also an important contribution to China's development, according to Fernando Vallina.

Construction on the central control office building and enabling facilities has begun this month, and is expected to be completed by September.

The concept of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation is and will be observed throughout the whole process, said Lin Nianxiu, deputy head with the National Development and Reform Commission.

The ExxonMobil complex is the first major solely funded chemical project of a U.S. company in China, which demonstrates a firm step forward for the opening-up of China's petrochemical industry, Lin said.

"It is not only conducive to promoting the upgrading of China's petrochemical industry and boosting regional economic development, but also good for ExxonMobil to share China's development opportunities," Lin said.

"With the unprecedented loss of global demand, we have significantly reduced our spending, investments and operating costs to preserve cash and value... [But] our long-term plans and outlook for growth remain unchanged," said Darren Woods.

"Populations and energy demand will grow and the economy will rebound. Despite the shock from the pandemic, we believe China in the Asia Pacific region will lead this growth, which is the foundation for continued investments in your country," he said.

According to Chen Yuehua, deputy head of the provincial commerce department, Guangdong saw 45 projects with over 100 million dollars of foreign investment each last year.

Despite the pandemic, the department has pooled resources and helped about 50 multinationals restore operations and production.

A March survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in South China showed strong willingness to reinvest in China for the next three years, and nearly 70 percent of the respondents said they will continue to invest in China this year.

Panasonic Industrial Devices Materials (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. has planned to invest another 550 million yuan for factory expansion.

Ichiki Tsutomu, general manager of the company, said the new factory will be used for 5G equipment manufacturing, and the production capacity will be improved by 50 percent in two years.