From January to May this year, the chemicals industry in Southwest China's Guizhou province recorded a total industrial output value of 11.7 billion yuan ($1.73 billion), a year-on-year increase of 21.1 percent.

The sector is now widely regarded as an important industrial pillar that employs premium local resources in Guizhou.

Relying on the rich mineral resources of phosphorus, coal, barite, manganese ore and mercury, Guizhou has created a dynamic industrial hub led by the phosphorus chemicals industry, coal chemicals industry, as well as barium salt, mercury production and rubber processing.

The Xifeng economic and technological development zone, for one, has expanded by focusing on the advantages of the province's important phosphorus chemicals industry core area, new energy phosphorus batteries output and its materials industry core area.

From January to May, the zone's total industrial output value above a designated size was 3.57 billion yuan, with the phosphorus chemicals sector accounting for 95.36 percent of the total.

By the end of May this year, the province's lithium iron phosphate production capacity had reached 141,000 metric tons per year, an increase of 182 percent from the end of 2021.

After years of development, the coal chemicals industry in Guizhou has also established a sound industrial foundation.

It has formed a traditional coal chemicals ecosystem focusing on coal-to-synthesis ammonia, coal-to-methanol and coal coking processing and established a modern coal chemicals industry system, focusing on coal-to-ethylene glycol and coal tar deep processing.

In addition, barium salt series products in Guizhou have been widely used in high-tech fields such as the military sector, aerospace, electronic informatization and the production of magnetic materials.

Furthermore, the new energy battery materials industry – represented by lithium iron phosphate, manganese sulfate, lithium manganate and nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary cathode materials – is gradually developing and expanding.