Chemical industry sees improvement in safety

China's chemical industry has achieved 15 percent annual industrial growth with a drop in workplace accidents, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"The government has been paying increasing attention to the safety of work conditions when dealing with hazardous chemicals and will continue to improve it," said Sun Huashan, vice-minister of State Administration of Work Safety, during the China International Chemical Process Safety Symposium held on Wednesday in Qingdao, Shandong province.

In the last year, the death toll in the chemical industry fell to less than 100 for the first time. This represents a 22 percent decrease compared to the previous year.

In 2012, the number of workplace fatalities fell by 33 percent over the year.

During the 11th Five-Year-Plan period (2006-2010), the number of accidents fell by 62 percent and the death toll fell by 51 percent.

However, he said work safety in China's chemical industry still lagged behind international levels and the rapid growth of the industry has brought increasing challenges.