China produced 173.32 tons of gold in the first  eight  months  of  this  year, an increase of 3.43 percent year-on-year,  while  gold  output  in August alone stood at 20.81 tons, according to an Oct. 6 announcement by the China Gold Association.

China's  gold mining enterprises produced a total of 142.57 tons of gold (gold bullion  and  compound  gold)  in  the first eight months, up 4.84 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, dipped by 0.33 percent to 84.64 tons.

The table  below  shows China's top gold mining regions during the first eight months of 2008.

Top gold mining regions, January to August 2008 Rank

                   Region              Share of total production, Jan -
                                                     Aug 2008 (%)
1                     Shandong                           20.67
2                       Henan                            11.25
3                      Fujian                            8.06
4                  Inner Mongolia                        4.12
5                       Hunan                            4.03
6                      Shaanxi                           3.70
7                      Guizhou                           3.46
8                     Xinjiang                           3.36
9                       Gansu                            3.36
10                    Liaoning                           3.05
Source: China Gold Association

Nonferrous metals smelting companies produced 33.47 tons of gold bullion in the eight-month  period,  up  0.41 percent year-on-year. The top five nonferrous  metals  smelters  accounted  for 87.03 percent of total gold output by the sector.

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

Top five  nonferrous  metals  smelters  by  gold  production, January to August 2008
Rank                    Company              Share of total production, Jan
                                                     - Aug 2008 (%)
1                 Jiangxi Copper Group                   26.61
2                 Yunnan Copper Group                    24.71
3              Anhui Tongling Nonferrous                 17.17
                    Metals Co. Ltd.
4            Shanghai Xinye Copper Co. Ltd.               9.69
5             Hubei Daye Nonferrous Metals                8.85
                        Co. Ltd.
Source: China Gold Association

Gold refinery  companies  produced  51.16  tons  of  gold bullion in the January  to August period, down 0.81 percent from the same period a year earlier.  The top five companies accounted for 78.17 percent of all gold produced by the country's gold refineries during the period.

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

Top five gold smelting companies, January to August 2008
Rank                    Company              Share of total production, Jan
                                                     - Aug 2008 (%)
1             Shandong Zhaojin Mining Co.                33.38
                          Ltd.
2             Henan Lingbao Gold Co. Ltd.                17.28
3             Zhongkuang Gold Industry Co.               10.76
                          Ltd.
4            Henan Zhongyuan Gold Smelting                9.95
                        Co. Ltd.
5            Shandong Hengbang Smelting Co.               6.80
                          Ltd.
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 82.48 billion ($12.07 billion) in the first  eight  months of the year, expanding by 88.53 percent from the same  period  last  year,  with profit up 84.62 percent on an annual basis to RMB 8.89 billion ($1.30 billion).

The Shanghai  Gold  Exchange,  China's sole precious metals spot trading platform,  reported  a gold trading volume of 2,800,912.20 kilograms for the first eight months of this year, rising 186.72 percent year-on-year, and trading  turnover  of  RMB 573.64 billion ($83.7 billion), up 260.10 percent.

The Shanghai  Futures Exchange reported a gold futures trading volume of 359,348  kilograms  and  trading  turnover  of  RMB 66.83 billion ($9.78 billion) in August.