The value-added output of Chinese chemical industry increased 17.3% year on year in April this year, 6.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier, according to the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics recently.

In April, the output of caustic soda increased 22.1% year on year and that of soda ash rose 3.5% year on year. Fertilizer output increased 1.6%, nitrogenous fertilizer output decreased 2%. Pesticide output increased 17.2%.

From January to April, the value-added output of the chemical industry increased 21.4% year on year in the first four months, 15.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier. Caustic soda increased 22.4% to 6.73 million tons, and soda ash rose 19% year on year to 6.92 million tons. Fertilizer saw an 8.7% year-on-year increase to 22.22 million tons. Pesticide rose 20.1% to 862,000 tons.