Zhaoyuan gold mining town [Photo/Yantai Travel Network]

Yantai, a city of gold, has been recognized as the “Top Gold Producer in China” for 39 consecutive years.

Endowed with rich gold resources, the city is honored as the “Hometown of Gold”. Local gold reserve takes up one-fourth of China's total.

Gold has become one of the four pillar industries in Yantai, which has been home to ancient gold mines and big mineral companies and metallurgical plants.

Since 1949, gold industry in Yantai has enjoyed rapid development. According to Yantai gold bureau, there are 86 large-scale gold companies. In 2013, Yantai's gold output reached 146.5 tons, accounting for 36.3 percent of all nationwide and 83 percent of Shandong's total.

Major corporations, such as Shandong Gold Group, Shandong Zhaojin Group, Shandong Zhongkuang Group, Yantai Humon Group and Penglai Gold Group, are taking the lead in Yantai's gold industry.

Zhaoyuan county in Yantai is a major gold producer, with gold output ranking first among all county-level cities in China for 39 years in a row.

Currently, there are about 190 gold-related companies with more than 40,000 employees. Yantai has 15 metallurgical plants that focus on recycling and utilization of gold and other mineral resources, such as silver, copper, lead-zinc, sulfur, iron and arsenic. More than 60 gold manufacturing enterprises can make all kinds of mining equipment that have a daily mining capacity of 100,000 tons.

Gold tourism is a new driving force behind Yantai's gold industry. The gold museum, gold mining town and the largest gold jewelry shopping mall attract 1.5 million visitors every year.

Zhaoyuan has become a gold mining, refining, processing and sales facility in Yantai. It can annually process 200-ton gold and silver products, 70-ton standard gold ingots and 105-ton standard silver ingots. Many domestic well-known gold accessory brands began business here, such as “Zhaojin”, “L. Gold Miracle”, “Zhaojin Gold House” and “Luxin”.

In 2013, Zhaoyuan’s gold industry saw sales revenue amount to 60.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 12.54 percent. Profits reached 2.64 billion yuan.