Karamay, which in Uyghur means “black oil,” remains a city that was founded on and thrives thanks to oil. Even today, this city—named after its abundant oil resources—continues to produce tens of millions of tons of oil annually, contributing significantly to China’s energy security.
　　Be ever mindful of potential dangers even in times of peace, and pursue both reform and innovation simultaneously. Recently, during a field investigation, reporters found that Karamay—once heavily reliant on oil alone—is now steadily moving toward a diversified development model centered on “one dominant industry with multiple complementary sectors.” While remaining committed to oil and gas production, Karamay is deeply cultivating its fertile ground to unlock new sources of value, while also embracing the “cloud” to seek fresh opportunities. By leveraging its comparative advantages, Karamay is fostering the cloud computing industry and empowering high-quality development.
　　Add “fuel” and boost “energy”—enhance and deepen the oil and gas sector.
　　In 1955, China’s first major oilfield—the Karamay Oilfield—was born in the Junggar Basin. Over the past 60-odd years, Karamay has successively developed more than 30 oil and gas fields on the desolate Gobi Desert, built the country’s largest gas storage facility, and cumulatively produced over 400 million tons of crude oil and more than 97 billion cubic meters of natural gas for the nation, continuously fueling and boosting the country’s development.
　　“Over the past few decades, working conditions have changed dramatically. Back in my grandfather’s generation, it was ‘a map on the ground, and three kilometers underground.’ Now, we’re dealing with ‘a screen right in front of us, and over ten thousand meters beneath the surface,’” said Feng Xue, a third-generation employee at the No. 2 Oil Production Plant of Xinjiang Oilfield, China National Petroleum Corporation, as she reflected with deep emotion on the development of smart oilfields.
　　The IoT coverage for oil and gas wells has reached 86%, and the coverage for stations and storage facilities has reached 89%; full coverage will be achieved during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Leveraging multi-dimensional intelligent fault diagnosis fusion technology, abnormal wells can be automatically diagnosed, with a compliance rate of 90% for dynamometer card analysis and 80% for parameter diagnosis... Today, in areas such as planning and design, software development and operations, data analysis, and application, oilfield operations in Karamay have already shifted from “manual” to “intelligent.”
　　Accelerate the green transformation of development modes. Xinjiang Oilfield Company has taken on the role of “carbon sequestrator”—using carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology to not only boost crude oil production but also bury carbon dioxide underground. Yang Liqiang, Party Secretary of the company, told reporters that the company is speeding up the implementation of integrated projects involving source-grid-load-storage and multi-energy complementarity, aiming to create a demonstration zone for the integrated development of oil & gas and new energy sources.
　　“Innovation is the primary driving force behind development. We’ve overcome an international challenge in the deep processing of heavy crude oil, ensuring an effective supply of rare cycloalkane-based specialty oils that are in short supply nationwide, and we’ve built the country’s largest production base for high-end white oil,” said Zhen Xinping, deputy chief engineer at Karamay Petrochemical Company, his words brimming with pride.
　　Cycloalkane heavy oil resources, often referred to as the "rare earths of the petroleum industry," are scarce raw materials used in the production of specialty petrochemical products such as high-grade transformer oils, ultra-low-temperature engine oils, and premium-grade asphalt. The company’s white oil production line, completed last year with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons, will effectively alleviate China’s long-standing reliance on imports for high-end white oil.
　　“Diversity” Drives Innovation and Paves the Way for the Transformation of Resource-Based Cities
　　“Oil is Karamay’s greatest inherent advantage. To promote high-quality development, we must neither remain complacent nor recklessly abandon oil production,” said Shi Gang, Secretary of the Karamay Municipal Party Committee. “We need to put our efforts into ‘extending the industrial chain,’ ‘filling in missing links,’ ‘expanding the chain,’ and ‘strengthening the chain.’ We should both ‘dig deep into the fertile soil to unearth black gold’ and ‘reach for the clouds to count the stars.’”
　　“One dominant, diversified” has become the choice made on the exam paper of Karamay’s transformation and upgrading. “One dominant” refers to optimizing and strengthening the petroleum and petrochemical industry. “Diversified” means developing emerging industries such as new energy and new materials, the digital economy, and modern agriculture.
　　The Baijian Tan District, once a Gobi desert covered with white alkali, is now dotted with factories. Several months ago, the district successfully upgraded to a National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. Liu Mi, the district’s executive deputy director, said that the Baijian Tan District is building a diversified product system centered on “oil—chemicals—new materials,” enhancing the added value of petrochemical products, and establishing a technology R&D support platform as well as a technology incubation and acceleration hub. As a result, a number of petrochemical projects have embarked on the path toward commercialization and industrialization.
　　Karamay boasts abundant energy resources, a cold climate, and geological stability—qualities that give it a comparative advantage for developing the cloud computing industry. Seizing this momentum, Karamay is embracing the “cloud” to pursue innovation and tap into cloud-based productivity and competitiveness.
　　Stepping into Xinjiang Qisehua Information Technology Co., Ltd., located in the Karamay Cloud Computing Industrial Park, one can immediately see on the large screen behind the “Xinjiang Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Big Data Platform” real-time data on livestock inventories, quarantine status, and animal movement trends across various prefectures and regions of Xinjiang. Ma Jingjing, the company’s financial director, explained that by setting up operations in the cloud computing industrial park, the company has gained better opportunities for development.
　　The reporter learned that since its opening in 2013, the industrial park has attracted large-scale data center projects such as the Huawei Cloud Service Data Center, the China National Petroleum Corporation (Karamay) Data Center, and the Autonomous Region Disaster Recovery Center. It has also launched the first dedicated international internet channel in Northwest China, placing its cloud computing and data storage capabilities among the top in the region. Currently, Karamay is holding in-depth discussions with several industry-leading enterprises to explore the potential for developing the digital economy.
　　“We are continuously making strides in accelerating the ‘East Data, West Computing’ and ‘Xinjiang Data, Kezhou Computing’ initiatives, providing momentum for the transformation and upgrading of the city’s industries,” said Lan Tian, deputy director of the System Network Center of the Karamay Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology. At the same time, the local authorities are seizing the historic opportunity presented by the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative to build an offshore cloud computing data hub serving businesses and institutions in Central Asia.
　　Development for the People: Transforming Barren Desert and Gobi into Livable Cities
　　A sound ecological environment is the most universally beneficial form of public welfare. In 1979, the green coverage rate in Karamay City was only 1%. By 2022, the city’s overall green coverage rate had risen to 43.83%, and the per capita area of park green space reached 13.78 square meters. From “stepping outside and immediately hitting dirt” to “opening the door and seeing greenery,” Karamay has been steadily becoming more beautiful.
　　A people’s city should not only have “face” but also “substance.”
　　“Ding-dong!” The doorbell rang, and Ms. Sun, who is nearly 50 years old, took from the deliveryman the chronic disease medication prescribed for her by a doctor at the city center hospital—less than 24 hours after she had consulted the doctor online.
　　The reporter learned that Karamay City is comprehensively promoting the development of medical and health services, gradually establishing internet-based healthcare platforms and telemedicine platforms. Patients with common illnesses can now largely receive online diagnosis and treatment without leaving their homes, and even complex and rare diseases hold promise for “treating Western ailments in the East,” allowing residents in this northwestern frontier region to access high-quality medical resources from eastern areas.
　　In 2022, the regional GDP of Karamay grew by 4.7% year-on-year, 1.5 percentage points higher than the Xinjiang-wide average and 1.7 percentage points higher than the national average. Per capita disposable income of residents reached 53,903 yuan, 26,840 yuan above the Xinjiang-wide average and 17,020 yuan above the national average.