On March 26, China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (Norinco Group), the People’s Government of Liaoning Province and Saudi Aramco Asia Company Limited (SAAC) held a ceremony in Beijing for the signing of the Shareholders Agreement for a Fine Chemicals and Raw Material Engineering Project (the Project). Mr. Liu Shiquan, Chairman of Norinco Group, Mr. Zou Wenchao, Mr. Li Chunjian and Mr. Yan Zhe, the vice general managers of Norinco Group, Mr. Li Lecheng, Mr. Jiang Youwei and Mr. Feng Shouquan, respectively the governor, vice governor and secretary general of the People’s Government of Liaoning Province, Mr. Wang Bingsen, the Party Secretary of the Panjin Municipal Committee of the CPC, and Mr. Amin H. Nasser and Mr. Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, respectively the President and CEO and the Executive Vice President, Downstream of SAAC all attended the ceremony and witnessed the signing.
The Fine Chemicals and Raw Material Engineering Project is a strategic cooperation between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (The Kingdom), which was proposed in March 2017 in the presence of, and advocated by, the heads of the PRC and The Kingdom. It is a key project in the PRC’s national action plan and a key project for Norinco Group in the development of the Belt and Road initiative. It promotes industrial restructuring and supports the development of the petroleum and petrochemical sectors. The Project plays a significant role in deepening the economic and trade cooperation between China and The Kingdom to achieve mutual development and prosperity.
The Project includes a refinery with a daily processing capacity of 300,000 barrels and a chemical plant with an annual output of 1.65 million tons of ethylene and 2 million tons of paraxylene. The Project is undertaken by Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (HAPCO), a joint venture established by SAAC, Norinco Group, and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (Panjin Xincheng), the shareholding percentages of which in HAPCO are 30%, 51%, and 19% respectively. The Project is located in Panjin City, Liaoning Province. The construction of the Project will commence in the second quarter of 2023 after all the required administrative approvals are obtained and is expected to be fully operational in 2026.
JunHe was the Chinese counsel of North Huajin and has assisted the client in every respect of the Project since 2021. This included the demonstration of the transaction structure of the Project, the negotiation, revision, finalization and execution of the letter of intent and all transaction documents for the joint venture cooperation and the agreements for the supporting projects, and advising on issues regarding PRC laws. The Project involved complex issues in many fields. The project team worked collaboratively, addressed numerous challenges and provided the client with multidisciplinary and integrated legal services. The efficiency, professionalism and hardworking attitude of JunHe’s team facilitated the successful execution of the Project.
The Project was led by JunHe partner LIAN, Jing. It was undertaken by LIAN, Jing, QIN, Yu (Bill), CONG, Qing, WEI, Yingling, BAI, Hongjuan, ZHOU, Yong (Z.), Leon C.G. Liu, HE, Fang, DU, Lijing, ZHAO, Tingting, ZHANG, Qing (Atlas) and WANG, Jin (Steven).
