A commencement ceremony for an olefin project of Datong Coal Mine Group takes place in Datong, Shanxi province on March 19. [Photo/Xinhua]

Datong Coal Mine Group started construction of an olefin project, a key coal chemical project for coal-rich Datong in upgrading its coal industry, on March 19.

With a total investment of 9.8 billion yuan ($1.46 billion), the project is one of the largest high-tech coal chemical projects for Datong Coal Mine Group, which contributed more than half to the city's industrial output value in 2018.

It is also the first high-tech coal chemical project promoted by the Datong branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy since its establishment in April 2018.

Once completed, the project is expected to produce 600,000 tons of olefin annually.