China has achieved large-scale production of polyolefin elastomers (POE), a high-end material, at the Dushanzi Petrochemical Company in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the parent company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), said on Monday.

POE is a high-end material with unique properties, combining the processability of plastics with the high elasticity of rubber. It is a core raw material for strategic emerging industries such as photovoltaics.

Chinese technicians began developing key POE technologies in 2015 and transformed lab achievements into industrial production in 2024. In 2025, Dushanzi Petrochemical produced a cumulative total of 58,000 tons of POE, completing the entire technology and process chain.

"Our POE has a light transmittance of over 90 percent, so the photovoltaic films made from it can maximize the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic modules. Its excellent weather resistance and water vapor barrier properties can effectively protect the internal circuitry of the modules, extending the lifespan of photovoltaic panels from 25 years to over 30 years," said Fan Guofeng, deputy general manager of Dushanzi Petrochemical Company.

China has long relied on imports for POE, with import dependence once exceeding 95 percent. The latest breakthroughs made in the industrial production technology of the POE gas-phase polymerization process fill the technological gap. Compared with mainstream international technologies, this independently developed new process is greener and reduces overall energy consumption by about 40 percent.

"Through the gas-phase process, we produce POE products with no solvent emissions, low volatile content, and minimal odor, meeting green and low-carbon requirements," said Wang Jinzhao, deputy manager of the company's No. 2 POE division.

Currently, complete sets of technologies and processes for POE production are being rapidly promoted, gradually forming an industrial cluster effect. CNPC estimates that by the end of 2026, China's POE production capacity will exceed 300,000 tons.