China's oil giant China Petrochemical Corp, better known as Sinopec, has signed a framework agreement on hydrogen energy strategic cooperation with China's automaker Great Wall Motors (GWM) to carry out in-depth cooperation in the fields of hydrogen energy technology research and development.

The two sides will speed up independent development of core technology and equipment of the hydrogen sector, promoting the value creation of upstream and downstream assets of the industrial chain to jointly push forward the country’s high-quality hydrogen development.

Sinopec is currently going through the energy transition and industry upgrade, and plans by 2025 to come up with 1,000 hydrogen stations, 5,000 charging stations or battery swapping stations and 7,000 distributed photovoltaic power stations, to further enhance its major position in the transportation and energy market, said Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of Sinopec.

The cooperation will enable each side to fully play to its advantages and further facilitate the government’s ambitions in terms of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, he said.

Sinopec said earlier that the company has provided the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area some 40 metric tons of hydrogen so far to help foster the rapid development of the hydrogen industry in the region.

Being Asia's biggest refiner, Sinopec has been speeding up the development of hydrogen applications nationwide. It is also the country's largest hydrogen producer, with annual hydrogen production exceeding 3.5 million tons, accounting for 14 percent of the country's total

China will become an important market for hydrogen, which is expected to become a key pillar of decarbonization strategies in the country, according to Bloomberg NEF.