Published by: World Tibet Network News Thursday, October 16, 1997

BEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - China produced 101.8 tonnes of gold in the first nine months of this year, up 20.3 percent year-on-year, the China Gold newspaper said on Monday.

Gold output in 14 areas grew by more than 20 percent year-on-year, including the eastern coastal province of Shandong and the Himalayan region of Tibet, the newspaper said.

It gave no further details.

China turned out just over 120 tonnes of gold in 1996 and said it plans to raise output to about 130 tonnes this year.