China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, the world's largest refiner, signed a strategic agreement with a local district government in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province, to facilitate development of the hydrogen energy industry on Wednesday.

The agreement will help the Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development District in Guangzhou to upgrade their strength in the application of the hydrogen cell in the automobile industry, according to the local government.

Under the agreement, a series of projects, including construction of more than 20 comprehensive stations integrating hydrogenation, fueling, charging, photovoltaic power generation and non-fuel business services, would help generate sales revenue of over 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).

The Huangpu District and the Guangzhou Development District, which have been approved as demonstration areas for comprehensive utilization of new energy in China, have an industrial value of more than 100 billion yuan in new energy industry, according to the local government.

In 2019, the local government issued a series of preferential policies, including establishment of an industrial foundation of hydrogen energy, to boost the development of the hydrogen energy industry.