Sinopec Corp and BP announced on 10th May 2004 that they had signed a heads of agreement in London for the joint venture in Nanjing, during the Chinese Premier Wen Jiao Bao's visit to the UK. In March 2005, the two companies signed the joint venture contract. Besides the new acetic acid joint venture in Nanjing, Sinopec Corp and BP already operate the YARACO acetic acid joint venture in Chongqing, China. This plant's capacity is currently being expanded from 200,000 to 350,000 tonnes per annum.
China's leading integrated energy and chemical companies Sinopec Corp is a producer and distributor of oil products (both wholesale and retail of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel) and No.1 producer and supplier of major petrochemical products (including petrochemical intermediates, synthetic resin, synthetic fiber monomers and polymers, synthetic fiber and chemical fertilizer) as well as the 2nd largest crude oil producer.