Profit of China's gold miners jumps 34 pct in H1

By Kim Young-gyo
HONG KONG, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- China's gold industry saw its earnings surge 34 percent in the first six months of this year thanks to rising value of the yellow metal amid a global safe-haven rush, officials said Tuesday.
Chinese gold companies registered a profit of 13.8 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) in the January-June period, up 34.2 percent from a year earlier, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.
China produced 164.616 tons of gold in the six-month period, an increase of 3.25 percent over the same period last year. The value of the output was 119.5 billion yuan, up 23.4 percent on-year.
The ministry said skyrocketing gold prices on the international market was the main reason for higher gold industry profits.
According to a report from the World Gold Council (WGC), China has emerged as the fastest growing consumer of gold in the world and is expected to overtake India soon as the world's largest buyer of the precious metal.
The WGC report said China's gold demand will double over the next decade due to jewelery consumption and investment needs, as the country witnesses growing demand and increasing appetite for the yellow metal among the middle and upper class.
Most of China's gold output stays in the country where it's transformed into jewelry and manufactured items.
ygkim@yna.co.kr