China's Chemical Fiber Industry Research report. From the China Economy Network. Covers through 1997 only. Agricultural Chemicals and Fertilizers Agricultural Chemicals Market research report from the US Embassy in Beijing, July 1997. FAO Fertilizer Statistics for China Statistics about the fertilizer industry in China from the UN's Foreign Agricultural Organization.
Chemicals are an important component of China's drive to modernize industrial production.
Even while domestic demand has sustained sales volumes, China has had to cope with the two-pronged effects of the Asian financial crisis, namely decreased demand as export growth has slowed and new supplies of low priced Asian imports. Although the government is eager to attract foreign investment, they are skittish about giving away too much of the domestic market. As an example, in 1997, China's ethylene output reached 3.58 million tons, which only met around half of the domestic demand. However due to heavy losses racked up by many of Sinopec's affiliates in 1998, Sinopec decided to postpone all five of the multibillion-dollar petrochemical joint ventures it had been planning with Western partners to produce ethylene. In East China this new policy affected projects with BASF, BP Amoco, and Phillips.