China's gold output rises 11.66%

BEIJING - China produced 403.1 tons of gold in 2012, up 42.1 tons or 11.66 percent year-on-year, according to new data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Among the total, 341.8 tons came from gold mines, while 61.3 tons were a byproduct of nonferrous metal smelting, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, gold producers realized 380.79 billion yuan ($60.57 billion) in industrial output value, up 33.91 percent. Their profits rose 4 percent to 35 billion yuan.

Gold price in China declined in December last year following a downtrend in the international market as the deadlock in the United States' "fiscal cliff" bargain added to the market uncertainty, the ministry said.

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