“Acquisitions by China’s gold mining companies reached a record this year as the metal’s steepest quarterly drop in more than nine decades slashes mine values and sidelines Western competitors laden with debt. Takeovers and asset purchases by producers based in China and Hong Kong rose to a record $2.24 billion this year, beating last year’s record $1.96 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China’s government has urged national gold producers to boost development of overseas resources in neighboring countries and in Africa and Latin America, according to its 12th Five-Year Plan which ends in 2015.”
