Thirty-six people have been killed and two remain missing after a fire broke out at a plant of a trading firm in central China, local authorities said on Tuesday.

It took firefighters more than four hours to douse the fire that broke out on Monday at the plant of the commerce and trade company in Wenfeng district of Anyang city in Henan province, according to the city's publicity department.

Firefighters put out the fire at around 11 pm on Monday, it said.

Two people who sustained minor injuries have been sent to a hospital and are in stable condition, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Police have detained some suspects for investigation.

In August 2015, over 170 people were killed and 700 injured when blasts ripped through a warehouse in Tianjin Port, where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide.

China suffers frequent deadly fires and industrial accidents, often blamed on negligence.

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