As the first chemical enterprise in China's history, Jihua of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has experienced volatility since its establishment in 1954.

Jilin Petrochemical had been in the red for years until the corporation began improvements in their management and producing quality in 2016.

According to a report recently released by the company, its main business income reached 49.26 billion yuan ($7.14 billion) in 2016, whilst the profit of the major industries - refining and chemical - reached 2.33 billion yuan.

Detailing management

Entering the factory of Jihua, people can see a little notebook in which job loggings are neatly recorded. Staff said clear notes can help reduce the chance of mistakes and unexpected setbacks, enabling better company development.

Qiu Ke, secretary of the Party Committee, noted that "safe and stable operation is the most effective management strategy, providing benefits for the company and maximum efficiency."

"The company has invested nearly 1.1 billion yuan to treat waste water and to clear the refinery emissions. As a result, the pollutant emission reduction has reached more than 20 percent," Qiu added.

Technical transformation and upgrading

Besides detailing management, technical transformation and improvements to manufacturing skills are also necessary to turn losses into gains.

Qiu introduced an improved energy utilization system that runs on steam, hydrogen and nitrogen, generating 136 million yuan in profits.

The production optimization also helped the diesel ratio lower from 2.13 to 1.63, Qiu stressed.

Producing best ABS

ABS is one of the most widely used engineering materials, and is often used for home application shells and automobiles.

He Changhai, secretary of the party committee at the Jihua Synthetic Resin Factory, said the factory is the largest ABS production base in CPNC, producing about 60 tons of ABS per year.

Lu Shu, head engineer at the Jihua Synthetic Resin Factory, said, "Many ABS market shares originally belonging to Jihua were replaced by others three years ago due to low quality and low market demand."

Lu added, "Since then, the company has researched the development process and improved technical skills in order to significant reduce impurities and improve the quality. Now, the factory develops new products and has become the main supplier of many enterprises including GREE and Midea."

China's best materials for pipes

Jihua Ethylene Plant is another dominant industry in CPNC, which maximized benefits through improving shortages and quality.

Shi Junxue, director of the plant, said the plant suffered a bottleneck period after the construction of high density polyethylene devices, and slid into loss in 2012.

"At that time, the factory proposed to make ‘China's best materials for pipes’and conducted research on raw materials, promoters and devices. The factory attained an output of 266,700 tons in 2016," Shi said.

The transformation and upgrading methods of CPNC's factories set examples to many other state-owned enterprises in China, as their success indicates that SOEs can use initiative and determination to transform into the new economic support for the nation in spite of adversity.