Urumqi Petrochemical Company is situated centrally among three major oilfields—Xinjiang, Tarim, and Tuha—and is adjacent to the China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline, the Central Asia-China gas pipeline, and the national Zhundong coal-electricity-chemical base in Xinjiang.

The company originated as the Urumqi Petrochemical Plant; preparations began in January 1971, and actual construction commenced in April 1975. It has since developed into a comprehensive petrochemical base integrating large-scale oil refining, chemical fertilizer production, and aromatics manufacturing.

The company has a primary crude oil processing capacity of 10 million tons per year and a paraxylene production capacity of 1 million tons per year. Its fertilizer plant has an annual production capacity of 750,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 1.3 million tons of urea, while its chemical fiber plant has an annual production capacity of 130,000 tons of chemical products. Currently, the company produces over 30 types of petrochemical products, including fuels (gasoline, kerosene, and diesel), solvent oils, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Its urea has been awarded the title of "China Famous Brand Product," while automotive gasoline, automotive diesel, urea, and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) have successively received "Famous Brand Product" designations at the national, ministerial, and provincial levels.

Since 2000, the company has achieved 135 scientific research breakthroughs.

From the commencement of production in 1977 through 2014, the company processed a cumulative total of 110 million tons of crude oil and feedstock oil. Its output included 69.66 million tons of fuels (gasoline, kerosene, and diesel), 3.48 million tons of benzene-based products, 13.48 million tons of synthetic ammonia, 23.33 million tons of urea, 1.56 million tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and 18.4 billion kWh of electricity. During this period, the company generated a total industrial output value of 346.8 billion yuan and operating revenue of 347.9 billion yuan, while paying a cumulative total of 40.1 billion yuan in taxes and fees.