The spatial organization of the Chinese petrochemical industry was optimized ac-cording to the status of development of the industry employing linear programming and Ar-cGIS spatial analysis tools. We first identified the indexes of the spatial organization of the petrochemical industry and established a comprehensive evaluation index system that in-cludes four major categories and 11 indicators. The weight of each index was then deter-mined by the analytical hierarchy process. Afterward, taking the 337 Chinese prefecture-level administrations as basic units and scientifically evaluating the potential comprehensive layout coefficients of the cities, 151 prefecture-level administrative units were selected as the basis for the choice of optimization sites with a linear programming model. Secondly, using the 151 prefecture-level administrative units and the maximum-coverage model, the optimal number and spatial distribution of refineries were identified for service radii of 100, 200 and 300 km. Thirdly, considering the actual distribution of China’s refineries, general rules for the number of refinery layout points and objective values were summarized, and 52 refinery layout points were selected for China. Finally, with ArcGIS spatial analysis tools, the spatial effect of the 52 optimal refinery layout points was simulated for the service scope and socioeconomic factors respectively, and the GDP and population data for each refinery layout point were then ex-tracted within the service scope. On this basis and with estimation of the intensity of crude-oil consumption, final results were obtained for the optimal spatial organization of the Chinese refining capacity and ethylene production capacity.