Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), one of the world's largest petrochemicals groups, said on Monday it had signed an agreement with Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group to build a petrochemical complex in China.

Sabic said in a statement the joint project would be a "greenfield petrochemical complex" located in the Ningxia Hui Region of China and would help the Saudi company diversify its feedstock sources.

"The joint venture would benefit from its location in Ningxia and utilize locally available coal feedstocks to be supplied by SNCG," Sabic said. The Chinese company is a unit of Shenhua Group Corporation Limited.

No financial details or time frame for the project were given. Sabic said the companies would now work on getting approvals from Chinese authorities for the complex.

Sabic said the plans were part of its ongoing strategy to diversify its operations geographically and to seek investments that would open up the company to new markets.

The China-based complex would also help Sabic get its feedstock from a wider variety of sources, it said.

"This protects Sabic against the fluctuations and cyclical movements in feedstock price in the international markets, which helps ensure a profitable growth strategy," Sabic chairman and chief executive Yousef al-Benyan said in the statement. – Reuters