CHINA: China has struck gold in an unexpected place — beneath the sea. For the first time, the country has discovered an undersea gold deposit, and it is already being described as the largest in Asia, underscoring how far China is pushing to secure vital mineral resources.
The find was made off the coast of Laizhou, a coastal city in Yantai, Shandong province. Almost overnight, the discovery has reshaped China’s gold map. Laizhou’s proven gold reserves have now climbed past 3,900 tonnes, roughly a quarter of the national total, cementing the city’s position as China’s top gold-producing and gold-holding region.
Local officials announced the breakthrough this week at a conference reviewing progress under the current five-year plan and setting priorities for the next. While they did not reveal the exact size of the offshore deposit, the message was clear: China’s underground — and now undersea — wealth may be far greater than once thought.
The discovery is part of a wider surge in major gold finds across the country. Just last month, authorities confirmed a massive low-grade gold deposit in Liaoning province, containing more than 1,444 tonnes of gold — the largest single deposit discovered since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Weeks earlier, another deposit estimated at over 1,000 tonnes was reported in the remote Kunlun Mountains near China’s western border.
Shandong has emerged as the epicentre of this gold rush. By late 2023, the province had already identified around a quarter of China’s total gold reserves, much of it concentrated on the Jiaodong Peninsula — one of the world’s largest gold mining belts and home to Laizhou.
China already leads the world in gold production, mining 377 tonnes last year. However, as far as proven reserves are concerned, it’s still behind the usual heavy players such as South Africa, Russia, and Australia — a gap Beijing wants to narrow down.
Outside its role as a border against economic ambiguity, gold is vital in electronics, aerospace technology and other high-tech industries. That has added urgency to China’s drive to lock in long-term supplies.
To do so, the country has ramped up mineral exploration, turning to cutting-edge tools such as artificial intelligence, powerful ground-penetrating radar and advanced satellite systems. And the effort is paying off in ways that go beyond gold.
This week, Chinese scientists celebrated international recognition of a newly discovered mineral, Jinxiuite. Approved by the International Mineralogical Association, the mineral contains metals crucial for aerospace, chemical processing and battery production — a significant find for a country facing shortages of key materials like cobalt.
The spending behind these discoveries is enormous. China invested nearly 116 billion yuan in geological exploration last year alone. Since 2021, total spending under the current five-year plan has approached 450 billion yuan, resulting in the discovery of 150 mineral deposits nationwide.
All of this is unfolding against a backdrop of soaring global gold prices, driven by geopolitical tensions, currency volatility and heavy buying by central banks, particularly in emerging economies. By midday of Dec 19, spot gold was trading at US$4,338.3 an ounce.
From mountain ranges and deserts to the seabed itself, China’s search for resources is going deeper than ever — and it is reshaping the country’s economic and strategic future in the process.
