China plans to build a commercial oil storage facility at the Yangpu Development Zone in southern China's Hainan province, the Sinopec-owned China Petrochemical News reported, citing a senior official with the Hainan provincial government.

Jiang Sixian, deputy governor of Hainan province, was quoted as saying that the oil storage facility will have an annual throughput of 10 mln cubic meters.

The negotiations with relevant partners on the project is just about finished, Jiang said.

He didn't disclose who the partners are or the amount of investment in the project, however.

Local media reported earlier that Saudi Arabia and China plan to build a large crude oil storage facility in Hainan, with a projected storage capacity of 25-30 mln tons.

The site is expected to supply oil to their joint refinery in Fujian province and contain part of China's oil reserves.

The Hainan government also plans to apply with the central government to build a strategic oil reserve base in Yangpu, Jiang noted.