Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou, southern China's Guangdong Province.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a special "cloud ceremony" was held online with video connections linking the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, and places in Beijing and Dallas.

The complex, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will be built in two phases. The first phase with a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker and down-stream production equipment is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin.

An annual operating income of 39 billion yuan (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) is expected when the first phase reaches designed capacity.

Undated file photo shows the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in south China's Guangdong Province. Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou. (Huizhou Information Office/Handout via Xinhua)