Hubei will focus on developing modern chemical industry during its "15th Five-Year Plan" period, with clear transformation directions for petrochemical, phosphorus chemical and salt chemical industries.

The plan sets a series of quantitative research indicators to 2030:

The proportion of value added of high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size in the total manufacturing value added will increase from 17.4% in 2025 to 21%; the penetration rate of digital production equipment in manufacturing companies above designated size will rise from 57.9% to 75%; the penetration rate of artificial intelligence methodology consumption in manufacturing companies above designated size will increase from 20.7% to 50%; and the reduction rate of carbon dioxide releases per unit of manufacturing added value above designated size will reach greater than 17.5%.

The plan proposes to promote research and research of key core technologies and optimization of production processes, consolidate the technical support system to key manufacturing sector clusters, and accelerate the intelligent, environmentally friendly and integrated research of the manufacturing sector. In terms of key manufacturing chain cultivation, the modern chemical sector has clarified research directions to four sub-fields: phosphorus chemical sector, petrochemical sector, coal chemical sector and salt chemical sector.

The phosphorus chemical sector will focus on developing new-generation phosphorus-based new energy materials, and extend to phosphorus-based flame retardant materials and high-end fluorosilicone materials; the petrochemical sector will focus on cutting-edge polymer materials such as high-end polyolefins, high-value-added aviation kerosene, special lubricants, high-performance fibers and functional membrane materials; the coal chemical sector will focus on developing high-value-added coal-based new materials such as polycarbonate, polyolefin elastomers and dimethyl carbonate; the salt chemical sector will promote the transformation of the sector towards fine chlorine-based materials and hydrogen-based materials.

The new energy manufacturing chain has also refined its whole-chain layout simultaneously.

In the upstream of the new battery sector, efforts will be made to develop key materials such as electrode materials, separators and electrolytes; in the midstream, efforts will be made to enhance the manufacturing of battery cells and modules; in the downstream, efforts will be made to promote the demonstration and consumption of power and energy storage batteries such as solid-state batteries and sodium-ion batteries; the hydrogen energy sector will focus on improving the whole chain of production, storage, transportation and refueling, enhancing the technological level of hydrogen fuel cells, and promoting the landing and consumption of items such as high-power hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks and hydrogen energy ships.

At the manufacturing space layout level, Hubei will enhance five major manufacturing corridors.

Relying on regional resource endowments, it will consolidate the manufacturing foundations of Yichang's phosphorus chemical sector and cathode materials, Jingmen's lithium batteries, Jingzhou's new energy materials, and Xiangyang's phosphorus-silicon mineral resources, and build the "Yichang-Jingmen-Jingzhou-Xiangyang" new energy and new materials corridor to promote cross-regional collaborative research of the chemical and new energy and new materials industries.

According to the plan, Hubei will adhere to the simultaneous research of traditional sector upgrading and emerging sector cultivation. By strengthening, extending and supplementing the manufacturing chains, it will promote the chemical sector to get rid of low-end paths and iterate towards high-value-added new materials and new energy supporting directions. At the same time, it will enhance the level of manufacturing digitalization and low-carbon research, and build a greater competitive cutting-edge manufacturing sector system.