China's top gold producer's sales up 27 pct in 2012

China National Gold Group Corp., the country's largest gold producer, said Monday that its sales reached 100.6 billion yuan (16 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, up 27.1 percent from 2011.

Profits stood at 4.45 billion yuan, down 55 million yuan year on year, the company said in an annual report.

The company's total assets hit a record-high 65 billion yuan by the end of 2012, up 11.5 billion yuan from a year earlier, the report said.

By the end of 2012, the company's gold reserves reached 1,758 tonnes, up 374 tonnes from the previous year, while its copper, molybdenum and silver reserves hit 10.97 million, 2.07 million and 10,000 tonnes, respectively, according to the report.