On July 14, construction began on the bio-based new materials project of Yuanli Chemical Group’s Xing’an League Yuanli Biotechnology Co., Ltd., marking significant progress in breaking the deadlock and getting the corn industry in Xing’an League off to a promising start.
At the project site, engineering vehicles are bustling back and forth, carrying out earthwork operations—a scene of intense activity. The Yuanli Chemical Bio-based New Materials Project has a total investment of 4 billion yuan. It will make full use of raw materials such as corn, corn cobs, and straw to produce bio-based new materials—including starch and bio-based succinic acid—replacing conventional petroleum-based materials. This initiative aims to bring about significant innovations in bio-manufacturing across various aspects, including raw materials, manufacturing processes, and product properties. The project will be implemented in three phases. Once fully operational, it will be able to process 800,000 tons of corn annually and produce 600,000 tons of bio-based new materials each year, with an annual output value reaching 5.8 billion yuan.
“The Xing’an League boasts abundant resources of corn, green electricity, and green hydrogen. To fully leverage these advantages, we’re expanding our project’s industrial chain and planning to build a cell factory in the Xing’an League Economic and Technological Development Zone—a facility that will span from biological gene editing to strain development. Through research and development, we’ll employ precision fermentation to produce bio-based new materials that can replace petrochemical-based ones,” said Wang Fuwei, General Manager of Yuanli Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in Xing’an League, Yuanli Chemical Group.

The Xing'an League is a key national base for the production of agricultural and livestock products, with an average annual grain output consistently at 13.5 billion jin, accounting for 1% of the nation’s total grain production—of which corn accounts for over 80%. For the Xing'an League, doing well with “corn” and strengthening the “corn” industry is of great significance and far-reaching impact. The Yuanli Chemical Bio-based New Materials Project fully leverages the Xing'an League’s advantages in the corn industry, aligning with policies supporting the deep processing of corn. Using raw materials such as corn, corn cobs, and straw, the project produces bio-based new materials—including starch and bio-based succinic acid—that find wide applications in fields like food, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. As a midstream link in the industrial chain, this project can effectively drive the integrated development of the three industries in the Xing'an League. At the same time, the project will establish within the Xing'an League a regional-level and even national-level bio-technology R&D center and laboratory, continuously developing high-value-added new products in the field of synthetic biology. This will promote the deep integration of chemical and other key industrial sectors with biotechnology, comprehensively enhance the region’s industrialization level in biosynthesis, empower the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, and foster high-quality economic development in the region.

“The project leverages the company’s advanced core technologies in bio-green manufacturing and its cutting-edge chemical synthesis capabilities to produce green, healthy, and recyclable bio-based new materials. It serves as a crucial support and key driver for Xing’an League’s efforts to build a bio-based new materials industrial cluster, achieve a ‘technological breakthrough,’ and develop new-quality productivity,” said Gao Tianyu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Xing’an League Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Since the beginning of this year, Xing'an League has been making every effort to accelerate and enhance the efficiency of major project construction. As of now, Xing'an League has commenced 66 new major projects and resumed work on 111 ongoing projects, covering multiple sectors including energy, transportation, industry, and urban (including industrial park) infrastructure. Once these projects are put into operation and begin yielding results, they will inject strong momentum into Xing'an League's high-quality economic and social development. (Reporter: Gao Minna; Intern: Zhang Qiang)