The mining industry is the basic industry of the national economy, which provides abundant mineral raw materials, so it plays a support role in the development of national economy.

  In 2008, China 's newly discovered large and medium-sized mineral deposits reached 209 ones. Among them, energy mineral deposits amounted to 38 ones, metal mineral deposits 90 ones, non-metal mineral deposits 79 ones and hydrosphere deposits 2 ones. There were 57 minerals newly added and that had proved resource reserves. Among them, petroleum reserve amounted to 1.34 billion tons, 130 million tons more than 2007; the natural gas stood at 647.2 billion cubic meters, 50.2 billion cubic meters less than 2007; crude coal 23.11 billion tons, 17.51 billion tons less than 2007. In the discovered and proven 15 oil and natural gas reserves zones at 100-million-ton level, the newly added and proven geological reserve petroleum stood at 1.34 billion tons, the natural gas 647.2 billion cubic meters and the crude coal 23.11 billion tons. The output of crude steel broke through 500 million tons, hitting a new record high; the output of gold ranked the first in the world for the first time.

  The output and import and export trade of the nationwide major minerals continuously grew. In 2008, the output of the natural crude oil amounted to 189.7281 million tons, up by 2.3% year-on-year, with the growth rising by 0.69% from the same period of 2007; the output of the natural gas 76.081 billion cubic meters, up by 12.32% year-on-year, with the growth down 5.95% from the same period of 2007; the coal output completed 2.716 billion tons, up by 7.65% year-on-year, with the growth 193 million tons more than the same period of 2007.

  In 2008, China transferred 542 exploration rights through bid and auction, with transfer revenues of RMB6.319b; 7696 mining rights were transferred through bid and auction, with transfer revenues of RMB4.034b. Investment in geological prospecting slightly rose but still maintained a high level. In 2008, China input expenditures of RMB71.72b in geological prospecting, up by 4.1% year-on-year, among which the state finance appropriated RMB9.26b, up by 0.6% year-on-year, accounting for 12.9% of the total investment in geological prospecting, down 0.5% compared with 2007.

  With respect to the utilization of foreign capital, in 2008, the number of contracts utilizing foreign capital in the mining industry amounted to 149 ones, falling by 36.32% compared with 2007; the actually utilized foreign capital stood at USD 572.83m , up by 17.04% compared with 2007.

  In accordance with the demand for endowment conditions of mineral resources and local economic development, at present, Chinese mining investment gradually shifted to central land western areas abundant in mineral resources. China put forward the stabilization of mineral resource exploration in east and central China areas and simultaneously boost the advantageous mineral resource exploration in west China . The investigations and assessments, prospecting and development and utilization on the top ten western mineral resource concentration zones will be continuously strengthened in a bid to promote the construction of the replacement zones of mineral resources and mining economic zones. According to the requirements for tailoring measures to suit local conditions, scale development and intensive utilization, the state will scientifically divide the planning zones of all sorts of mineral resources, perfect the administration systems in planning sub-districts, coordinate the relationship of the layout of resources prospecting, development and utilization and all kinds of subjects of interests and profits, reasonably divide projects zones and blocks, and scientifically establish the mining rights to facilitate the reasonable layout and optimization allocation of resource development. The state planned mining sits and those having an important value for national economy shall be developed orderly in strict accordance with the planning.