China produced 152.51 tons of gold in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 5.22 percent year-on-year,  while  China's  July  gold  output  stood  at 23.42 tons, according to a Sept. 1 announcement by the China Gold Association.

    China's gold mining enterprises produced a total of 124.78 tons of gold (gold bullion  and  compound  gold)  in  the first seven months, up 5.28 percent  on  an  annual basis, while gold bullion production by smelting companies  (nonferrous  metals smelters and gold refinery plants), using compound  gold,  scrap  gold and imported ore as feedstock, increased by2.75 percent year-on-year to 75.54 tons.

    The table  below  shows China's top gold mining regions during the first seven months of the year.

    Top gold mining regions, January to July 2008

Rank                   Region              Share of total production, Jan -
                                                     Jul 2008 (%)
1                     Shandong                           20.93
2                       Henan                            11.19
3                      Fujian                            8.03
4                  Inner Mongolia                        3.99
5                       Hunan                            3.99
6                       Gansu                            3.30
7                      Shaanxi                           3.23
8                      Guizhou                           3.23
9                     Xinjiang                           3.19
10                    Liaoning                           3.09

    Source: China Gold Association

Nonferrous metals smelting companies produced 29.83 tons of gold bullionin the seven-month  period,  up  2.03 percent year-on-year. The top five nonferrous  metals  smelters  accounted  for 86.32 percent of total gold output by the sector.

    The table  below  lists  China's  top five nonferrous metals smelters by gold production during the first seven months of the year.

    Top five  nonferrous metals smelters by gold production, January to July2008

Ran               Company                 Share of total production, Jan -
k                                                   Jul 2008 (%)
1           Jiangxi Copper Group                       25.60
2           Yunnan Copper Group                        25.32
3     Anhui Tongling Nonferrous Metals                 16.77
                  Co. Ltd.
4      Shanghai Xinye Copper Co. Ltd.                  10.05
5     Hubei Daye Nonferrous Metals Co.                  8.58
                    Ltd.

    Source: China Gold Association

Gold refinery  companies  produced  45.71  tons  of  gold bullion in the January  to  July  period, expanding 3.24 percent from the same period a year earlier. The top five gold companies accounted for 78.57 percent of all gold produced by the country's gold refineries during the period.

    The table  below  shows  China's top five gold smelting companies during the first seven months of the year.

    Top five gold smelting companies, January to July 2008

Ran               Company                 Share of total production, Jan -
k                                                   Jul 2008 (%)
1     Shandong Zhaojin Mining Co. Ltd.                 32.83
2       Henan Lingbao Gold Co. Ltd.                    16.89
3    Zhongkuang Gold Industry Co. Ltd.                 10.54
4    Henan Zhongyuan Gold Smelting Co.                 10.06
                    Ltd.
5   Shandong Hengbang Smelting Co. Ltd.                 8.24

    Source: China Gold Association

Note: Shandong  Zhaojin Mining Co. Ltd.'s output is the sum of that from three subsidiaries,  namely  Shandong  Sinoming  Gold Co. Ltd., Zhaojing Mining Co. Ltd. and Shandong Guoda Gold Co. Ltd.

    Based on  current  gold  prices,  China's entire gold producing industry achieved  a total industrial value of RMB 72.01 billion ($10.54 billion) in the first  seven  months of the year, expanding by 90.60 percent from the same  period  last  year,  with profit up 89.93 percent on an annual basis to RMB 7.83 billion ($1.15 billion).

    The Shanghai  Gold  Exchange,  China's sole precious metals spot trading platform,  reported  a gold trading volume of 2,410,936.90 kilograms for the first seven months of this year, rising 190.82 percent year-on-year,and trading  turnover  of RMB 501.49 billion ($73.41 billion), up 270.50 percent.

    The Shanghai  Futures Exchange reported a gold futures trading volume of329,184  kilograms  and  trading  turnover  of  RMB  68.33  billion ($10billion) in July.