The Zhoushan area of the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone in East China's Zhejiang province has made significant strides in bolstering its oil and gas industry since the founding of the FTZ in 2017. 

For example, the Zhoushan area has within the last few years built the Zhejiang Mercantile Exchange, a green petrochemical base, an oil and gas storage and transportation base, a maritime service base, and a demonstration zone for cross-border RMB settlements for bulk commodities, said Wang Hao, the governor of the province, at the fifth International Petroleum and Natural Gas Enterprises Conference held in Zhoushan on Aug 30.

Zhoushan mayor Xu Renbiao said the city will channel its resources towards establishing a complete oil and gas industrial chain that covers the storage and transportation, processing, trading and transactions for bulk commodities such as oil, natural gas, iron ores and agricultural products. 

To date, the city has made 215 institutional innovation achievements, of which 103 are the first of their kind in the country and 30 have been replicated and promoted across the country.

According to official statistics, Zhoushan is presently home to more than 10,000 oil and gas enterprises, and the foreign trade value of oil and gas products in the city hit 737.9 billion yuan ($106.37 billion) in 2021. The foreign trade value of oil and gas products in the city totaled 1.9 trillion yuan over the past five years and had an annual growth rate of 83 percent.