Under the guidance of "dual carbon" goals, a group of resource-based cities are actively seeking transformation paths. Xinjiang's Karamay, a city that prospered from "black gold," is now switching development engines and seeking the future through "green energy." From black oil to green computing power, from underground mining to "chasing wind and sun," from a Gobi oil city to an emerging "tourist city," Karamay is gradually building a "one main, multiple elements" modern industrial system.

Xinjiang's Karamay was born from oil and prospered because of oil, making it a typical resource-based city. In October 1955, Karamay Well No. 1 gushed industrial oil flow, marking the birth of New China's first major oil field, thereby opening the prelude to Xinjiang's petroleum industry development and Karamay's construction and development.

For resource-based cities, the transformation challenge exists from the beginning of development and construction. During the early stages and prosperity periods of oil and gas development, crisis awareness is even more crucial. "Transformation is an eternal task, not achieved overnight, requiring persistent effort" - this has become a consensus in Karamay.

In recent years, Karamay has accelerated the construction of a "one main, multiple elements" modern industrial system. On one hand, it continues to refine and optimize the petroleum and petrochemical industry, serving to guarantee national energy strategic security. On the other hand, it accelerates the cultivation of diversified industries such as green computing power, new energy, and cultural tourism, developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions, continuously optimizing industrial and energy structures, and forging a new path for the transformation and development of the Gobi oil city.

**From Black Oil to Green Computing Power**

The transformation and development of resource-based economies does not mean abandoning traditional energy, but fundamentally achieving the conversion of old and new driving forces to move toward high-quality development. Karamay persists in "serving oil," fully supporting local petroleum and petrochemical enterprises in green transformation and stable production increase. Last year, it produced 14.86 million tons of crude oil, 4.51 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and processed 6.9 million tons of crude oil. This year, Karamay is striving to break through 20 million tons of oil and gas equivalent.

While refining and strengthening the "one main" industry, how to determine transformation direction and develop "multiple" industries? This requires adapting to local conditions and excavating, building, and releasing local potential industrial advantages.

The green computing power industry is one of the diversified industries that Karamay has determined based on these considerations. First, the basic conditions are relatively superior. Karamay was one of the first cities in Xinjiang to propose information technology industry as a strategic industry. In 2010, it built the country's first digital oil field, and in 2012, it established Xinjiang's first cloud computing industrial park, providing solid material, technical, market, and talent foundations for developing computing power industry.

Additionally, Karamay not only has abundant petroleum resources but also possesses wind and solar resource advantages. Through developing green electricity, it can provide stable, reliable, and low-cost green power guarantee for computing power centers.

Zheng Zhi, Deputy Director of Karamay Development and Reform Commission, told reporters that Karamay has built 6 large data centers, with computing power scale ranking among the forefront in Northwest China. In September this year, Karamay's first artificial intelligence application competition finals were successfully held. At the signing ceremony, six major projects covering petroleum industry, medical and health, ecological governance, government services, and trade services reached cooperation agreements, marking Karamay's key steps in deepening "AI+" actions and promoting green computing power industry development.

During research interviews, reporters learned that Karamay's green computing power projects closely align with the "Eastern Data, Western Computing" strategy, supporting local efforts to build a Northwest computing power industry highland, accelerating the transition from "energy output" to "computing power supply." A computing power "highway" starting from Karamay is extending eastward.

Western Waterwood (Xinjiang) Petroleum Technology Co., Ltd. was attracted by Karamay's oil and gas resource advantages and computing power industry development advantages, settling in Karamay in May this year, mainly engaging in petroleum and natural gas technical services and information system integration services. Deputy General Manager Zhao Fu said that Karamay's industrial characteristics and development prospects provide fertile ground for growth, and they are very optimistic about future development.

Recently, Western Waterwood (Xinjiang) Petroleum Technology Co., Ltd. reached cooperation with Karamay Cloud Computing Industry Investment and Development Co., Ltd. on the "Multi-body Dynamics Sliding Guide Feed-forward Control Model for Drilling" project. This project innovatively adopts a "digital twin + AI" fusion architecture, which can significantly improve drilling efficiency, save drilling costs, and effectively reduce drilling accident rates.

Reporters learned that Karamay will continue to optimize the innovation and development environment, increase policy support, promote deep integration of artificial intelligence with various industries, strive to create demonstration application scenarios, and provide broader stages and higher-quality services for innovators and entrepreneurs, encouraging more AI talents, projects, enterprises, and research institutions to choose and settle in Karamay.

**From Underground Mining to "Chasing Wind and Sun"**

Full-caliber energy consumption intensity decreased by 8.2%, new energy installed capacity increased 1.6 times, new energy power generation increased 3 times... Opening Karamay's 2024 green development report card, many figures are eye-catching.

Currently in Karamay, new projects and emerging industries all use green as their foundation color. The locality is accumulating new momentum for green development through pursuing green innovation, allowing green low-carbon development models to take root.

"Black gold" development turns green, and green development generates gold. In recent years, Karamay's petroleum and petrochemical industry has steadily improved quality. PetroChina Xinjiang Oilfield Company, registered in Karamay, built the country's first annual million-ton national continental shale oil demonstration area. PetroChina Karamay Petrochemical Co., Ltd. has joined the ranks of the world's largest transformer oil producers.

Meanwhile, Karamay accelerates "chasing wind and sun," achieving leapfrog development in new energy industry, adding 2.61 million kilowatts of new energy installed capacity in one year last year.

Alpati Shadik, Deputy Director of Karamay Development and Reform Commission, stated that in Karamay, new energy and traditional industries develop in integration, and the petroleum and petrochemical industry is accelerating green transformation, which is of great significance for industrial structure optimization.

Walking into Xinjiang Oilfield Company's Sansan District photovoltaic base, one sees a "blue ocean" shimmering with silver light. After sunlight transforms into electricity here, it departs from this photovoltaic power station with an annual power generation of 280 million kilowatt-hours, heading toward the depths of Junggar Basin to help various oil extraction areas achieve "gas-to-electricity" and "electricity-for-oil" conversions.

Since this year, PetroChina Xinjiang Oilfield Company has efficiently advanced new energy project construction. As China's largest "new energy + coal power + CCUS" integrated project, Xinjiang Oilfield's new energy and supporting coal power and carbon capture integrated project is under comprehensive construction.

Alpati Shadik introduced that this project will effectively optimize power source structure, connect coal, electricity, oil, gas, and new industrial chains, achieving multiple benefits of carbon reduction, production increase, grid strengthening, and power stabilization, promoting urban green low-carbon transformation.

Karamay is one of Xinjiang's first hydrogen energy industry demonstration zones, accelerating the "wind-solar hydrogen production, petrochemical hydrogen use, hydrogen-electric energy supply" industrial chain layout, focusing on creating green hydrogen chemical, hydrogen transportation, and green hydrogen-based energy application scenarios, promoting hydrogen applications in heavy oil upgrading, synthetic aviation fuel and other fields, allowing the city's transformation and upgrading to "hydrogen-power forward."

Additionally, based on the advantages of petroleum, petrochemical and new energy coupling development, Karamay positions new materials as a key direction for industrial transformation. A batch of enterprises with strong driving effects and good benefits, projects breaking through key technologies, and products filling gaps in Xinjiang and even the country have successively landed.

In chemical new materials, the focus is on developing high-performance green rubber and high-end polyolefins. Products such as metallocene polyethylene film materials not only occupy leading positions in domestic markets but are also exported to overseas markets.

Chen Kai, Deputy Secretary of Karamay Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, stated that as one of the first national carbon peak pilot cities, Karamay relies on abundant wind and solar resources to build a ten-million-kilowatt-level new energy base. It promotes coordinated advancement of oil and gas production increase with emission reduction and carbon reduction, actively plans "new energy +" industries, and through industrial foundation strengthening, efficiency improvement, and transformation upgrading, strives to create a green, low-carbon, intelligent national new industrialization demonstration zone.

**From Resource Extraction to Equipment Manufacturing**

Based on petroleum but transcending petroleum, extending traditional advantages is an important measure for Karamay's transformation and development. In recent years, the locality has vigorously developed the petroleum equipment industry, extending petroleum resource advantages upstream, achieving a transition from simple equipment whole machine manufacturing, complex equipment assembly and component manufacturing, and equipment repair industrial pattern to complete equipment production base pattern.

Ge Benliang, Level-4 Researcher of Karamay Industry and Information Technology Bureau, introduced that Karamay actively guides equipment manufacturing industry cluster development, promoting petroleum equipment manufacturing enterprise agglomeration development. Currently, it has basically formed an equipment manufacturing industry cluster mainly featuring products such as pumping units, wellhead equipment, and pipe materials.

As of the end of June this year, 97 equipment manufacturing enterprises were registered in Karamay.

In developing petroleum equipment manufacturing, Karamay closely follows industry development frontiers, building exchange and cooperation platforms for petroleum equipment, having successfully held seven China (Karamay) International Petroleum, Natural Gas and Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibitions.

Li Yuanjun, Vice President of Baker Hughes Holdings Group Co., Ltd., said that the petroleum equipment exhibition promotes technical exchange and cooperation between enterprises and provides more development opportunities for companies, helping Karamay extend and strengthen petroleum equipment industrial chains.

The seventh China (Karamay) International Petroleum, Natural Gas and Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibition held in August this year had 416 participating enterprises, covering the entire industrial chain of petroleum, petrochemicals, and oil and gas chemicals, as well as fields such as new energy, new materials, and intelligent computing power, forming an integrated exhibition pattern of "traditional energy + emerging tracks."

At this exhibition, 17 enterprises reached cooperation on 13 key projects, with signing amounts reaching 11.6 billion yuan.

During this exhibition, Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna JSC sought cooperation. Tolegen Olashev, General Manager of the company's Samgao Scientific and Technological Initiative Center, said he and colleagues came with many questions seeking answers, including how to improve oil and gas recovery rates and oil field energy-saving renovations. "The 'wind energy supporting oil and gas extraction' model at the exhibition provided new ideas, and we will discuss cooperation with relevant Chinese enterprises," Tolegen Olashev said.

Rooted in petroleum and petrochemical development fertile ground, Karamay's petroleum and petrochemical equipment manufacturing industry strength has significantly improved. A batch of innovative technologies have broken foreign technical monopolies, and a batch of enterprises have boldly "gone global," expanding international markets.

Xinjiang Taurus Energy Internet of Things Technology Co., Ltd. deeply cultivates IoT technology applications in oil field digitalization and other fields, producing wireless pressure transmitters, wireless temperature transmitters and other products. "Our products are exported to 13 countries, and sales volume this year has increased significantly compared to last year," said Chang Chang Jiang, Executive Deputy General Manager of the company.

This year, Shaanxi Jingkun Energy Technology Co., Ltd. signed with Karamay High-tech Zone to build an annual production project of 100,000 tons of hot-rolled remanufactured renewal oil pipes. This company relies on independently developed technology systems to perform cleaning, testing, anti-corrosion strengthening and other multi-process treatments on waste oil pipes, achieving efficient resource recycling.

"Karamay has market demand, and we have technical conditions. Settling here is natural, and after production, it will achieve both economic and environmental benefits," said Chen Zhiwei, General Manager of the company.

**From Gobi Oil City to Emerging "Tourist City"**

The Karamay River winds like a jade belt through the Gobi oil city. This summer and autumn, both banks of the river became seas of joy. The "Jubilant Karamay River" series of cultural and tourism activities held in early August attracted visitors, presenting a cultural feast of "watchable, playable, and experiential" content for citizens and tourists.

The series of activities centered on "culture + tourism + ecology," constructing new scenarios of cultural consumption that are "all-weather, all-age, all-field."

There is oil underground and tourism above ground. In recent years, Karamay has deeply implemented "Tourism Revitalizing Xinjiang," focusing on "one main, multiple elements" industrial development direction, relying on magnificent natural scenery and profound cultural heritage, deeply excavating the connotations of petroleum spirit, cultivating the "Wilderness Journey, Fashion Capital" cultural tourism brand. Tourist reception numbers increased from 11.2048 million person-times in 2021 to 23.25 million person-times in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of about 22%.

Among various places in Xinjiang, Karamay's conditions for developing tourism are not outstanding. How to cultivate advantages and achieve breakthroughs? Karamay started by organizing characteristic activities and cultivating cultural tourism brands.

This year, Karamay's cultural, sports and tourism series activities were staged continuously: "5.19 China Tourism Day," 2025 Xinjiang Special Tourism Festival, "Starting from Zero, Encountering Duku" 2025 Duku Base Camp Midsummer Carnival Season, "'Oil City Exploration, Cultural Museums Are Interesting' - Travel with Cultural Museums" and other activities, continuously releasing cultural tourism potential.

At the 2025 Xinjiang Special Tourism Festival held at the World Devil City scenic area in Karamay's Urho District, RV camping, flight experiences, automotive challenges and other projects refreshed visitors' perceptions of Karamay. "This is the third consecutive year Karamay has hosted the Special Tourism Festival. This year, low-altitude experience projects such as hot air balloons and powered parachutes were added, allowing visitors to have new experiences each time," said Xing Jian, Deputy Director of Karamay Culture, Sports, Broadcasting, Television and Tourism Bureau.

As the starting point of Duku Highway, Karamay's Dushanzi District aims to undertake Duku Highway traffic flow, built Duku Base Camp, and launched a series of influential cultural, sports and tourism activities.

Duku Base Camp is a one-stop tourism distribution center integrating tourism and leisure, specialty shopping, flavored dining, comfortable accommodation, and exciting performances, capable of meeting various consumption needs of tourists before departure and after return.

Since 2017, Duku Highway series activities have continuously upgraded. In recent years, quirky department stores markets, intangible cultural heritage handicraft inheritance exhibition areas, and live performance shows have been set up, allowing tourists to have things to see, play, and buy, fully releasing cultural tourism consumption potential.

Developing study tourism is Karamay's focus direction for deeply excavating cultural tourism potential. Karamay coordinately leverages advantageous resources in technology, education, agriculture, industry and other fields, working together in product supply, destination construction and other aspects, creating a batch of quality study courses and premium routes such as "Petroleum Culture Exploration Journey," "Natural Ecology Science Journey," and "Red Culture Heritage Journey." In the first half of this year, study tourism person-times citywide increased 8% year-on-year.

To highlight characteristics, Karamay's cultural tourism departments vigorously develop scenic spots with distinctive petroleum elements. Black Oil Mountain, Karamay Well No. 1, Hundred-Li Oil Region, Xinjiang's First Oil Well, China-Soviet Petroleum Company Old Site and others have become important resources for conducting red tourism, study tourism, and science tourism.

Xinjiang Oilfield 101 Cave Dwelling Site was built in 1964 and was a production and living place related to oil field exploration and development in the 1960s. It has now become an internet celebrity check-in spot. "This place retains memories of that time and is visible, tangible petroleum spirit. One can feel the weight of petroleum industrial history," sighed Zhao Yunxiang, a tourist from Shaanxi.

"We will explore and excavate the city's diversified cultural connotations based on petroleum spirit, actively construct a comprehensive tourism development pattern with relatively complete industrial chains and mutually supporting industrial clusters, build an important tourism node city with complete facilities, rich products, prosperous industries, and host-guest sharing, making cultural tourism soft power become hard support for oil city transformation and development," Xing Jian said.

**Investigation Notes: Dual-Wheel Drive Forms New Advantages**

Qiao Wenhui

Resource-based cities are built through resource development and prosper through resource utilization and transformation. With simple urban industrial structures severely dependent on traditional resources, transformation and development is a mandatory question.

From the practice of oil city Karamay, promoting industrial transformation and upgrading of resource-based cities toward high-quality development should focus on dual-wheel drive: first, based on traditional resources, making resource-based industries stronger and more refined; second, jumping out of traditional resources to cultivate emerging technology-based alternative industries and compete in new industrial tracks.

In promoting transformation, Karamay dialectically views traditional resources, focusing on constructing a "one main, multiple elements" modern industrial system, where "one main" means making traditional resource industries stronger and more refined. The greatest advantage of resource-based cities remains developed traditional resources. Traditional resources should be utilized thoroughly, with chains extended and expanded to increase the added value of resource-based products. Following this approach not only maximizes advantages and creates new advantages based on traditional ones but also accumulates funds and gains more adequate time for cultivating emerging industries.

Additionally, resource-based city transformation and development should persist in diversified development when cultivating emerging alternative industries to avoid sliding from simple dependence on one single industry to dependence on another single industry. On one hand, attention should be paid to developing new industries related to traditional resource industries. For example, a considerable portion of Karamay's new energy development is absorbed by traditional petroleum and petrochemical industries, both cultivating new industries and empowering traditional industries. On the other hand, cultivating emerging industries with relatively low correlation to original traditional resource industries, such as green computing power and cultural tourism industries that Karamay focuses on developing.

From an industrial structure perspective, resource-based cities generally have second industries dominating alone, with relatively weak primary and tertiary industries. Promoting resource-based city transformation can also advance dual-wheel drive with industrial structure adjustment and optimization as the main line, persisting in adapting to local conditions, focusing on better leveraging market mechanisms, coordinating total volume growth with structural adjustment, expanding tertiary industry proportions while adjusting secondary industry internal structures, forging a path from single industrial structure to diversified industrial structure transformation.

It's worth emphasizing that resource-based city transformation and development must particularly coordinate relationships between development and security, traditional and emerging industries, persisting in steady progress promoting stability, maintaining correctness while innovating, establishing first before breaking down. Transformation and development should never be simply understood as "de-resourcing" but should more scientifically utilize resources intensively and extend resources, leading industrial innovation with technological innovation, allowing traditional and emerging industries to simultaneously move toward high-end, intelligent, and green development during transformation.