July 3, BEIJING (Xinhua) - China's gold output rose nearly 6 percent year on year to 127.34 tons in the January to May period, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Friday.

 
Gold output totaled 28.3 tons in May, a statement posted on the ministry's website said.

Gold firms reported total net profit of 7.95 billion yuan ($1.17 billion) in the first five months of the year, up 76.81 percent from that of last year, the statement said.

In the same period, the domestic gold sector reported 75.13 billion yuan of gross industrial output value, up 52.5 percent year on year.