China has granted oil products wholesale licenses to Sino-overseas joint ventures for the first time, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

The two firms are Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Co., Ltd. and Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co., Ltd.

Sinopec holds a 55 percent stake in Sinopec SenMei and ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco hold 22.5 percent each.

Fujian Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sinopec, holds a 50 percent stake in Fujian Refining & Petrochemical and ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco hold 25 percent each.

Analysts said the move would help foster a more competitive oil products wholesale market where around two thirds of the oil products wholesalers are run by the nation's two oil giants, namely the China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petrochemical Corporation, better known as Sinopec.

Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum was also given a license for the oil products storage business, the MOC said.

The two joint ventures are the first fully integrated refining, petrochemicals and fuel marketing projects with foreign participation in China, according to ExxonMobil.

The Fujian Refining and Ethylene joint venture project will expand the existing refinery capacity from four million tons to 12 million tons per year. It is expected to start up in early 2009.

Sinopec SenMei will manage and operate 750 gas filling stations and 11 oil tankers in southeastern province of Fujian as of July 1.

The nation issued such licenses to the first batch of eight state-owned and private companies late last month since it opened the oil products wholesale market last December in line with its commitments to the World Trade Organization.

A total of 2,515 companies in China now have oil products wholesale rights.