China is banking on the shale gas technology in North America to extract methanol and clean its pollution by putting it in use for refinery chemicals, clean energy and thermal fuels, according to a source during the Boao Forum for Asia 2017.

Spearheaded by Shanghai Bi Ke Clean Energy Technology Co Ltd, a State-owned enterprise focused on methanol production, a plant has been set up in the state of Washington in the United States to churn out methanol out of shale gas, said Wu Lebin, chairman of Bi Ke's parent Chinese Academy of Sciences Holdings Co Ltd.

The facility has garnered investment totaling $6 billion from both Chinese and US investors. Wu said he expected the first batch of methanol to be shipped to China by 2019.

"If we replace diesel, coals and gas with methanol to power vehicles, the emission of PM2.5 (a critical air pollutant) would be slashed by 80 percent, and carbon emission would be halved. Meanwhile, the cost is only two-thirds that of coals," he said.