China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and TotalEnergies signed a heads of agreement (HoA) jointly to develop a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production unit at a SINOPEC refinery in China. The partnership aims to achieve an annual production capacity of 230,000 tons, with the new production line co-operated by both entities.

SINOPEC has developed its own SAF production technology, called SRJET. TotalEnergies, already one of Europe’s leading SAF producers, will bring its experience and expertise in the technical, operational and distribution fields.

In 2009, Sinopec successfully developed its bio-jet fuel production technology securing intellectual property rights followed by producing qualified bio-jet fuels for the first time in December 2011.

April 2013 marked successful trial flights at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport; commercial flights between Shanghai-Beijing were conducted in 2015; transoceanic flights from Beijing-Chicago took place in 2017 making China the first Asian country and fourth globally possessing indigenous bio-jet fuel technology development capabilities.

In May 2022, China’s inaugural industrial-scale bio-jet fuel facility commenced pilot production at Zhenhai Refining & Chemicals achieving Asia’s first Global RSB biomass-based sustainable aviation fuel certification later that year followed by obtaining airworthiness certificates for domestically produced large-scale biojet fuels in September.