China National Gold Group produced a record 42.42 tonnes of gold in 2017, state-run news agency Xinhua reports from the company's annual meeting. China's biggest gold producer reported a full year profit for 2017 of 766 million yuan ($120 million), its best result in recent years, Xinhua said, without providing a figure for 2016; ore costs decreased by 3.5 yuan per tonne year on year.

"We are confronted with tremendous pressure, as well as major strategic opportunities," China Gold Chairman Song Xin was quoted as saying, noting wild fluctuation in gold prices and growing market demand in China. Gold prices rose by around 13 percent in a roller-coaster 2017, peaking at $1,357.54 an ounce.

Song says 2018 will be a year of quality reform, without giving details. China has pledged to allow private capital to invest in government-run enterprises as part of a "mixed ownership" reform programme and China National Gold's subsidiary China National Gold Group Gold Jewellery Co raised 2.25 billion yuan last year in this way.

Copyright Reuters, 2018