China's Gold Output Grows 11 Percent in 2009

BEIJING, Feb. 1 -- China's gold output rose 11.34 percent to a record of 313.98 tonnes in 2009, according to latest statistics from China Gold Association.

It is the third year in a row for China to rank the first in gold production in the world, according to the association.

The domestic gold sector reported 137.53 billion yuan (20.14 billion U.S. dollars) of gross industrial output value in 2009, up 18.56 percent year on year.

The top five production provinces were Shandong, Henan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Yunnan, contributing to 59.48 percent of the total output.

The top ten gold firms produced 148.55 tonnes of gold, or 47.31 percent of the country's total, according to the association.

A total of 4,705.90 tonnes of gold were traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange involving 1.03 trillion yuan and about 6.81 million hands of gold futures were traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, involving 1.53 trillion yuan, according to the association.

China has been closing and integrating some small and obsolete gold producers. The total number of gold producers fell from more than 1,200 in 2002 to about 700 in 2009, according to the association.

China's annual gold output exceeded South Africa in 2007 for the first time to become the world's largest gold producer.