West Virginia was the biggest recipient of the $250 billion of investments signed during President Donald Trump’s visit to China.
The West Virginia Department of Commerce announced China Energy Investment Corporation Limited’s plan to invest $83.7 billion in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia.
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping witnessed West Virginia Secretary of Commerce H. Wood Thrasher and China Energy President Ling Wen sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between China Energy and the state of West Virginia as part of the U.S.-China Business Exchange trade mission to enhance relations between the two countries.
The company has made several trips to West Virginia, and the MOU marks the first step in a series of commitments China Energy plans to make in the Mountain State.
Planning for the projects is under way and will proceed in phases over the course of 20 years. The projects will focus on power generation, chemical manufacturing, and underground storage of natural gas liquids and derivatives. The plans clearly demonstrate a total value chain approach, integrated from raw materials through the production of useful chemical intermediates locally.
China Energy selected West Virginia for this project because of the state’s position as a key energy-producing state and home to one of the world’s largest shale gas reserves, underpinned by a longstanding relationship between the two entities.