The construction of an eco-friendly petrochemical base in Zhoushan, Yushan Island leads to the island's rapid development. [Photo/WeChat account: china-zjftz]

An eco-friendly petrochemical base in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, is being developed on the previously unused Yushan Island in Daishan county, local media reported.

Yushan Island had only around 500 permanent residents five years ago, but because a petrochemical base is now being built on the island, a total of 26 square kilometers of area has been developed by a maximum of 80,000 people working to build the base.

"Seeing the tremendous changes Yushan Island is undergoing, I feel proud to be a part of the construction," said Chen Zhengbing of CCCC Third Harbor Consultants Co Ltd, the company responsible for building the base.

The Zhoushan eco-friendly petrochemical base is expected to have an area of 41 square kilometers and includes a 173-billion-yuan ($25.91 billion) refining-chemical integration project funded by Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co Ltd in Zhoushan.

It is the largest such project in China and fifth largest in the world with an estimated annual processing capacity of 40 million metric tons.

Part of the refining-chemical integration project began operating at the end of 2019, with annual processing capacity of 20 million tons. It was completed six years earlier than planned and has, since then, processed 21.83 million tons of crude oil and generated 69.55 billion yuan in revenue.

Daishan has also built a new materials industrial park, where 20 companies have already decided to set up branches.