China gold demand seen rising over 22 pct in three years

Chinese gold demandequipment used in iron ore production could rise over 22 percent in the next three years and sharply outpace domestic production, the head of the country's largest state-owned gold miner China National Gold Group said on Thursday, signalling room for a strong ramp up in imports.

Gold production should reach 400 tonnes by 2014, a gain of nearly 19 percent from 2010, but consumption is set to grow by nearly a quarter to 700 tonnes, Sun Zhaoxue, president of the group, told reporters at the sidelines of a conference in Shanghai. "I'm very optimistic about the future of China's gold market," Sun said. China produced 340 tonnes of gold in 2010 and investors locally bought 571.5 tonnes, according to official data, for a gap of 231.5 tonnes made up by either imports or sales of existing stocks. The proportion of imports is not available because..