China's ethylene production capacity will continue to increase during the 12th Five-Year-Plan period (2011-15), and is expected to reach an annual production capacity of 25.56 million metric tons in 2015, a senior official said on Thursday.

China now has an annual ethylene production capacity of 15 million tons.

Although China's economic growth is slowing down, foreign investors still believe in China's energy market in the long term, said Zhang Fuqin, an engineer at the China Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering Institute.

She said that China's demand for ethylene, a material used in many industrial products, will increase at an annual growth rate of 5 percent during 2010 to 2015. The growth rate will rise to 5 percent to 7 percent during 2013 to 2015.

Kerosene demand is expected to reach an annual growth rate of 9 percent this year.

She said that the refined oil demand will reach 302 million tons to 339 million tons by the end of 2015.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn