GUANGZHOU, July 20 (Xinhua) -- German chemical giant BASF SE has greenlighted the construction of the planned Verbund site in the city of Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong Province, according to the company.

It is the first wholly foreign-funded project in China's heavy chemical industry and is progressing as per schedule, according to the latest company statement.

The focus will now be on building the core of the Verbund, which includes a steam cracker and several downstream plants for the production of petrochemicals and intermediates, among others.

BASF will invest up to 10 billion euros (about 10.2 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030 to build the new Verbund site, the statement said.

In 2020, BASF started construction of the first plants at the planned integrated Verbund site in Zhanjiang. The site will be built in several phases and is expected to be fully operational by 2030.

The site will be BASF's third-largest Verbund site worldwide after Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

The first plant for the production of engineering plastics is currently being established and a thermoplastic polyurethane production plant will come on stream in 2023.