China has discovered a large gold deposit of over 27 tonnes in Xinshao County in central China's Hunan Province, local officials said.
The gold deposit discovered would likely to exceed 27 tonnes, a spokesman for the team of prospectors said.
The gold ore reserve is located in Daxin Township of Xinshao, central Hunan Province, near Baima Mountain.
"After five years of prospecting, we have verified 14 gold ore reefs," Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesman as saying in Changsha, the provincial capital.
Discovering the gold will help the central Chinese province's economic development, said an official in charge of geological prospecting for the provincial land resources bureau.
Statistics show that currently, China has more than 1,200 gold mines, but more than 60 percent produces only 50 tonnes of ores a day.
China produced 224 tonnes of gold in 2005.
With the incomes and living standards of Chinese people steadily rising, the jewellery sector has witnessed impressive growth in recent years.
For example, during the recent week-long May Day holidays, jewellery sales at shopping malls nationwide jumped up to 170 percent, contributing a major chunk of the total retail sales of USD 42 billion from May 1 to 7.