“Fear neither heaven nor earth; I dedicate my life to producing oil for my motherland. Wherever there is oil, that is my home”……
As a third-generation oil worker, I “stepped into the oilfields” from a young age under the influence of my parents’ generation, and I have often felt the charm of the “City of Oil”—Qingyang.
When people think of major energy-producing provinces, they might think of places like Xinjiang, Shanxi, or Inner Mongolia. In fact, Gansu is also one of the provinces richest in natural resources, boasting a comprehensive range of mineral resources.
Qingyang, Gansu, in particular, is hailed as China’s “Kuwait” for its vast energy reserves.
It is precisely these abundant energy advantages, solid industrial foundation, and outstanding new energy supply that have made it the only prefecture-level city in the country to integrate the four major national projects: “West-to-East Gas Transmission,” “West-to-East Power Transmission,” “South-to-North Water Diversion,” and “East-to-West Data Processing.”
Being born here instills a deep sense of pride. Whether in terms of resources, culture, geography, industry, economy, or strategy, it remains a vital part of China’s energy landscape.
Natural Endowments: A Birthright
“An ‘oil kid’ should return to where they came from!” Having grown up breathing in the scent of oil, I’ve always felt deep down that my destiny is inextricably linked to petroleum.
After graduating from university in 2016, I turned down offers from several prestigious companies and returned to my hometown of Qingyang, Gansu, where I took on the role of a frontline technical specialist at the Changqing Oilfield Production Plant.
I remember that when I first started working, a quarter of China’s natural gas and a fifth of its oil came from Qingyang.
In the blink of an eye, six or seven years have passed. Looking back at this city on the plateau, it naturally cannot match the unique charm of the water towns of Jiangnan, yet it possesses its own distinctive character.
Qingyang is located in eastern Gansu Province, commonly known as “Longdong.” Situated at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia provinces within the Ordos Basin, it is rich in oil, coal, and natural gas resources. As the birthplace and primary production area of the Changqing Oilfield, it has become the “bridgehead” for Gansu’s eastward development.
First, consider these figures:
Total proven oil and gas resources amount to 5.974 billion tons, accounting for 40% of the Ordos Basin’s total resources, with geological oil reserves of 1.796 billion tons.
Total proven natural gas resources amount to 2 trillion cubic meters, accounting for 10% of the Ordos Basin’s total resources, with geological natural gas reserves of 31.86 billion cubic meters.
As the “lifeblood of industry,” energy powers everything that flies in the sky, runs on land, and sails the seas, with demand growing by the day.
In addition to oil, coal, and natural gas resources, there is enormous potential for the efficient and comprehensive utilization of wind and solar energy resources, making the region a key hub for China’s computing network and a strategic fulcrum for the “East Data, West Computing” initiative.
Guided by the "Dual Carbon" strategy and the development of the digital economy, Qingyang is committed to diversifying its energy development, accelerating economic growth, and vigorously cultivating industrial chains in petrochemicals, coal chemicals, natural gas chemicals, new energy equipment manufacturing, and hydrogen energy storage, making it a prime destination for entrepreneurs to invest and establish businesses.
Industrial Empowerment, Business Settlement
When it comes to corporate investment, where do companies obtain resource information? And where can they find reliable data sources?
Once this issue is resolved, government-run industrial parks can gain early insight into enterprises’ site selection needs and maximize the use of local advantages to attract investment.
This is the most common challenge and source of confusion in investment promotion. Qingyang’s Xifeng District broke with convention by leveraging “external expertise” to collaborate with Guchuan United in building a digital industrial investment promotion platform.
During the collaboration, the Guchuan United Investment Promotion Team, in conjunction with the Guchuan Industrial Research Institute, conducted on-site research in the area. They assessed the actual conditions of Xifeng District’s industrial parks, its leading industries, and available development space, while visiting enterprises in the chemical, new materials, equipment manufacturing, and food processing sectors.
Simultaneously, based on Xifeng District’s industrial foundation and future plans, they facilitated project matchmaking and negotiations precisely aligned with local development needs. Among these, a chlorate production project with a total investment of 525.5 million yuan and covering 100 mu of land was successfully established in the Qingyang Xifeng Industrial Park.
Qingyang Xifeng Industrial Park, approved by the provincial government in 2006 as one of the first batch of provincial-level industrial parks, consists of two zones: the Petrochemical Industrial Zone and the Industrial Concentration Zone.
The park has an approved planning area of 10.83 square kilometers and currently hosts 43 enterprises. Among these, 19 are fully operational, 7 are under construction, and 17 are in the preliminary approval process.
In recent years, the park has closely aligned with the district Party committee and district government’s “Industrial Strengthening of the District” strategy. Guided by the development philosophy of “infrastructure first, project-driven, ecology-first, and service-oriented,” it has formed a “One Park, Two Zones” development framework (Northern Industrial Concentration Zone and Southern Petrochemical Industrial Zone).
Northern Industrial Concentration Zone
Investment Focus
With energy equipment manufacturing and food and pharmaceutical processing as the leading industries, the zone comprises four functional areas: the Equipment Industry Zone, the Food and Pharmaceutical Industry Zone, the Specialty Industry Zone, and the Public Service Zone.
Tenant Enterprises
Key projects include Xifeng Pharmaceutical, Zhengda Food, and Yisite.
Infrastructure Support
Six main roads totaling 8.8 kilometers have been completed and opened to traffic. A 10-kilovolt power grid provides full coverage, and supporting infrastructure—including water supply, drainage, sewage treatment, and natural gas—is largely in place. Construction of a waste transfer station, heating plant, and fire station is scheduled to begin this year. Currently, 18 standardized factory buildings are planned, with 9 already completed and in operation.
Transportation Advantages
Adjacent to National Highway 244, 3 km from Qingyang Airport, 5 km from the Qinglan Expressway exit, and 10 km from Qingyang Station on the Yinchuan-Xi’an High-Speed Railway.
Southern Petrochemical Industrial Zone
Investment Focus
The zone focuses on the deep processing of oil and natural gas, fine chemicals, and the development and utilization of related industries. It comprises four functional zones: the Basic Raw Materials Refining and Chemical Processing Zone, the Oil and Gas Storage Zone, the Oil and Natural Gas Chemical Processing Zone, and the Fine Chemicals Zone.
Tenant Companies
Key projects include Hongda Chemical, Maochanghong Dry-Mix Mortar, Xiqing Coatings, Huayi Rubber, and Changhong Natural Gas Deep Processing.
Infrastructure Support
Three main roads totaling 7.9 kilometers within the park have been completed and opened to traffic. Supporting infrastructure, including dedicated water supply lines, a natural gas gate station, a 30,000-ton wastewater treatment plant, a 10-kilovolt dual-circuit power grid, and an 110-kilovolt power grid, is fully in place.
Transportation Advantages
The park is adjacent to National Highway 244, 2 kilometers from the Qinglan Expressway exit, 8 kilometers from the Qingyang Station of the Yinchuan-Xi’an High-Speed Railway, and 10 kilometers from Qingyang Airport.
In recent years, enterprises based in the Xifeng Industrial Park have demonstrated strong momentum in production and construction.
Examples include the Qingyang JiuGang Western Heavy Industry Energy Equipment Manufacturing Base Project, Hongda Chemical’s 200,000-ton hydrogen peroxide and 20,000-ton morpholine project, Maochanghong’s integrated dry-mix mortar project, Sany Heavy Energy, and Envision Energy.
The Qingyang Sany Wind Power Intelligent Manufacturing Project is a key initiative in the new energy equipment manufacturing industry chain introduced by Xifeng District, having settled in the Xifeng Industrial Concentration Zone last September. With a total investment of 200 million yuan, the project is designed to produce 200 wind turbine main units annually, and is expected to generate an annual output value of 1 billion yuan upon commencement of operations.
In the first half of this year, Xifeng received 266 groups of visiting investors and organized 140 investment promotion trips to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, and other locations. The district conducted on-site visits to over 354 enterprises, including Shanghai Zhuojing, Zhongnong Modern, and Xi’an Tongxin, and successfully signed 35 projects.
In this way, the rapid implementation of these projects serves as a microcosm of Xifeng District’s steadfast efforts to advance investment promotion. Building upon its resource endowments, geographical characteristics, developmental strengths, and distinctive industries, Xifeng District integrates initiatives to strengthen science and technology, industry, and county-level development.
Western Digital Valley: Seizing the Momentum
Building a regional central city for the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region is Qingyang’s clearest and most precise strategic positioning.
With the opening of multiple expressways, the launch of the Yinchuan-Xi’an High-Speed Railway, and the commencement of the Ping’an Railway, the transportation constraints limiting Qingyang are expected to be resolved. As the crossroads of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, the timing for Qingyang to build itself into a regional central city for this area could not be more opportune.
In 2022, the “East Data, West Computing” initiative was officially launched, marking a new chapter in the nationwide, cross-regional coordination of computing resources in China.
As one of the 10 national data center clusters, Qingyang views the construction of a national hub node and the implementation of the “East Data, West Computing” initiative as the greatest opportunity for the city’s economic and social development.
The “East Data, West Computing” initiative is another major national strategic project undertaken by Qingyang, following the “South-to-North Water Diversion,” “West-to-East Power Transmission,” and “West-to-East Natural Gas Transmission” projects.
It is worth noting that Qingyang’s abundance of green electricity is its strength, while data centers represent its opportunity. Currently, the city is building a comprehensive energy base that integrates traditional and new energy sources, providing effective support for the green power supply of data centers.
As the pace of energy transition accelerates, Qingyang’s abundant renewable energy resources are attracting significant attention.
According to local plans, by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Qingyang’s installed capacity for coal-fired power, wind power, and photovoltaic power stations will reach 16 million kilowatts. This will establish the world’s first comprehensive energy demonstration base—implemented by a single entity—featuring 10 million kilowatts of “coal-wind-solar-storage” multi-energy complementarity and “grid-source-load-storage integration,” providing diverse energy solutions for the national data center cluster.
Building on this foundation, the energy infrastructure for the Qingyang National Data Center Cluster (Gansu·Qingyang) “East Data, West Computing” Industrial Park is being comprehensively established.
Within a 17,000-mu (approximately 1,133 hectares) park in the eastern part of Xifeng District, Qingyang City, the “East Data, West Computing” initiative is rapidly evolving from a concept into a tangible cluster of projects. Recently, a visit to the office building in Qingyang’s “East Data, West Computing” Industrial Park revealed that more than a dozen companies are already conducting data-related operations within this four-story structure.
As the “East Data, West Computing” project advances and specific application scenarios take shape, Qingyang is capitalizing on this momentum to continuously address challenges in the integrated development of the data, computing, and power industries. The city is striving to enhance the utilization of green electricity and improve power efficiency to provide support, thereby fostering an integrated ecosystem for the data, computing, and power industries.
For Qingyang, this represents both a brand-new development opportunity and a fresh challenge. Today, it has evolved from a mere concept into tangible, concrete projects that generate tangible benefits.
Moving forward, GuChuan United will leverage its investment promotion model—grounded in industry research and big data—to attract more outstanding enterprises and high-quality projects to Qingyang, thereby driving the expansion and optimization of the new energy industry.
As your partner, GuChuan United sincerely invites entrepreneurs and investors to visit, explore collaboration opportunities, and invest in building businesses here.
