Gold Mining in China

Mining in China has had a long history and has always been one of the ways that the country has stayed economically competitive with other nations. However, the last decade has seen Chinese miners focus their efforts on certain metals to create a large share of the international market. Of these metals, gold is perhaps the most notable and the industry of gold in China has become one of the country's top exports. Since the year of 2007, China has held the top spot for gold production, with nearly 10 million ounces coming from the Asian country. This large output and cheap labor has contributed to make China an important factor in the price of gold around the world. While other countries that were top producers of the precious metal declined in their production over the last years, gold in China has continued to reach new heights. The two factors that have influenced this growth is foreign investment and the labor conditions in the country. The foreign investments have given mining companies the necessary capital to expand their mining efforts to new regions and deeper mines. In addition, the lack of much regulation of gold mining in China has seen a labor force be created that does not have the same limitations as other popular gold mining countries, such as South Africa. To better serve the increasing demand for gold, several of the larger Chinese companies have started to make a purchase of gold mining companies that operate on a smaller scale. This has been a drastic change and the 2000 companies in 2000 has decreased to around 800 in the past decade. Of the companies that are looking for gold in China, the leader is called the China National Gold Group Corporation, or CNGGC. Their production results in 20% of the total gold output of mining in China and over 30% of the country's domestic gold reserve.