Sinopec adds fuel to poverty fight

Energy giant plans to sell agricultural products from impoverished areas

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, will start selling apples, kiwi fruits and goat milk from Shaanxi province at its Easy Joy convenience stores inside gas stations nationwide, cooperating with the Shaanxi government in an attempt to alleviate local poverty.

The company, which is also the nation’s largest oil refiner, signed a cooperation framework agreement in April on industrial poverty alleviation with Shaanxi province, aiming to help poverty-stricken areas of the region sell more agricultural products through its sales channels.

Sinopec currently owns 25,000 Easy Joy convenience stores, which serve more than 20 million customers each day.

These outlets scattered around the country will enable local agricultural producers to further expand their sales channels and reach more corners of the nation, said the company.

Sinopec started its non-fuel businesses, including convenience stores and auto services, in 2008. Its non-fuel business has seen rapid growth with increased scale and profits. The profit of non-fuel business in 2017 was 2.2 billion yuan ($346 million), an increase of 700 million yuan compared with 2016.

China’s northwestern Shaanxi province, known for apples and kiwis, is one of the country’s biggest fruit production areas in terms of both acreage and output. It’s also one of the biggest apple producing regions in the world, with a production area of more than 700,000 hectares. Production output accounts for some one sixth of global volume.

However, Shaanxi apples have been under tremendous pressure in recent years, partly due to the increased number of imported apples on the market.

On the other hand, in the province, the main production area for kiwis, millions of pounds of kiwis are facing sales difficulties, while the world’s largest kiwis exporter, New Zealand’s Zespri International Ltd, is selling around 20 percent of its output to China and also preparing to start producing in the country to cut costs.

Other agricultural products in the province, including tea, beef and goat milk, face similar situations.

The company signed an agreement with Tibet Highland Natural Water Ltd in 2014 to sell glacier water at its Easy Joy convenience stores.

In 2010, Sinopec’s subsidiary in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region in northwestern China entered into the medlar or Chinese wolfberry industry by establishing a new brand and selling it at more than 10,000 gas service stations.

The cooperation will be a win-win for both sides, Sinopec said.

25,000 number of Easy Joy convenience stores owned by Sinopec