China's investment in geological exploration rises for three straight years

China's investment in geological exploration for minerals has grown for three consecutive years, according to a recent report released by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The China Mineral Resources Report (2024) shows that the country's investment in geological exploration, either for oil and gas minerals or non-oil and gas minerals, has grown for three consecutive years.

In 2023, a total of 124 new mineral deposits were discovered. By the end of last year, 173 types of minerals, including 13 energy minerals, 59 metallic minerals, 95 non-metallic minerals, and six water and gas minerals, were found in China, the report said.

Significant breakthroughs were achieved in oil and gas exploration in large oil and gas basins such as Tarim and Junggar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Bohai Bay. Meanwhile, progress was also made in the exploration of non-oil and gas minerals such as coal, copper, gold, lithium, and phosphorus, it said.

Last year, China's energy production reached a record high while the consumption structure has continued to optimize, according to the report.

The proportion of coal consumption in China's total primary energy consumption has fallen from 67.4 percent to 55.3 percent over the past decade while the proportion of clean energy has risen from 10.2 percent to 17.9 percent, it said.

Mineral resource laws and regulations have been further improved, as a meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress has deliberated the second draft of the Mineral Resources Law.

China has increased supervision and management of geological exploration activities and strengthened safety production in geological exploration, the report highlighted.

It has actively promoted national science and technology projects, with key technology and equipment for regional mineral exploration making breakthroughs.

Ten national standards and 59 industry standards in the field of geology and minerals have been newly issued and implemented, it added.