A Chinese gold shop assistant shows off various gold jewellery at a shop in Hefei, east China's Anhui province on November 10, 2009. China's gold production rose 13.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009 to 146.51 tonnes, while gold companies' profits, however, was down 15.75 percent in the same period at 5.6 billion yuan (820 million USD), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement. Getty Images logo Getty Images 27 months ago

A Chinese gold shop assistant shows off various gold jewellery at a shop in Hefei, east China's Anhui province on November 10, 2009. China's gold production rose 13.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009 to 146.51 tonnes, while gold companies' profits, however, was down 15.75 percent in the same period at 5.6 billion yuan (820 million USD), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.