China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec, vowed on Wednesday to strengthen cooperation on oil and gas pipeline networks between central Asian and Southeast Asian countries and regions, and promote collaboration in areas of new energy, smart grid, carbon capture, utilization and storage with countries and regions alongside the Belt and Road Initiative.

The goal is to further enhance high-quality energy cooperation with BRI involving countries and regions, the company said.

Zhao Dong, general manager of Sinopec, said: "We will continue to deepen cooperation in oil and gas resources (with BRI involving countries and regions) and strengthen the construction of energy transmission facilities between China and areas including Central Asia and Southeast Asia, forming an interconnected, smooth, safe, and efficient oil and gas pipeline network."

The remarks were made during the two-day Belt and Road Energy Partnership Forum that opened on Wednesday in Xiamen, Fujian province.

"We will also deepen cooperation in green energy and jointly promote the development of power generation from renewable energy and the construction of smart grids,"he added.

"We will collaborate on the mass production of green hydrogen, and trade infrastructure construction by expanding the supply of mineral resource supply to support the development of new types of energy storage and hydrogen industries," Zhao said.

Zhao said the company will also further deepen cooperation in the field of technology with a focus on unconventional, deepwater, oil and gas resources.

"Furthermore, considering that countries alongside the BRI have abundant scenarios for CCUS, we propose to establish demonstrative cooperation projects to accomplish technological breakthroughs and innovative applications," Zhao said.

In recent years, Sinopec has actively promoted international trade cooperation alongside the BRI. As of the end of 2022, the company had 31 oil and gas exploration and development projects alongside the BRI, executed 292 contracts for oil refining and chemical engineering projects, completed crude oil trade of 238 million metric tons, finished oil trade of 22.85 million tons and liquefied natural gas trade of 7.03 million tons with BRI involving countries and regions, according to the company.