Chemical industry in China

The chemical industry in the People's Republic of China valued at around $1.75 trillion in 2014. The country is currently the largest chemicals manufacturer in the world.

The chemical industry is central to modern China's economy. It uses special methods to alter the structure, composition or synthesis of substances to produce new products, such as steel, plastic, and ethyl. The chemical industry provides building materials for China's infrastructure, including subway, high-speed train, and highway.

Prior to 1978, most of the products were produced by the state-owned enterprises, but the share in product output from state-owned business has since decreased.

The Chinese chemical industry is also one of the world's largest producers of both controlled and non-controlled precursor chemicals used in the Global illicit drug trade, particularly in the Golden Triangle, Mexico, Latin America and Europe, with large volumes of these substances being traded through the growing research chemical (RC) industry online through social media and on B2B platforms and the dark web.