BEIJING, May 4 -- China's gold output increased by 2.96 metric tons or 4.4% year on year to 70.16 metric tons in the first three months of this year, according to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In the period from January to March, gold mines in the country produced 57.3 metric tons of gold, 6.03% more than in the corresponding period of last year, while the amount gold produced as a by-product of the smelting of nonferrous metals fell 2.26% to 12.87 metric tons, said the ministry.

In the first thee months, the country's top five gold producers saw output drop 1.36% year on year to 28.06 metric tons. The output of the top five gold producers accounted for 39.99% of the country's total.

In 2009, the country's gold output increased 11.34% from the previous year to a record 313.98 metric tons.