China has abundant mineral resources. A total of 171 kinds of minerals have so far been discovered, of which 153 have proven reserves. These include seven kinds of energy resources, five kinds of ferrous metallic minerals, 41 kinds of nonferrous metallic minerals, eight kinds of precious metallic minerals and 91 kinds of nonmetallic minerals. Among China's 45 main kinds of minerals, the proven reserves of 25 are in the top three worldwide, and the country leads the world in the reserves of rare earth, gypsum, vanadium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, bentonite, graphite, mirabilitum, barite, magnesite and antimony.

Coal Resources China leads the world in coal resources. Its proven recoverable deposits amount to 1 trillion tons, which are mainly distributed in north and northwest China. Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region boast richest coal reserves.

Oil and Gas Resources Oil reserves are mainly distributed in the northwest and are also found in northeast and north China and the sub-littoral continental shelf along the southeastern coast. By the end of 1998, a total of 509 oilfields and 163 gas fields had been discovered nationwide, proven oil reserves in place standing at 19.85 billion tons and ranking ninth worldwide and proven natural gas reserves in place totaling 1.95 trillion cubic meters, 20th place in the world. Of these totals, land oil and natural gas resources account for 73.8 percent and 78.4 percent respectively. China now has six large oil/gas bases in Songliao, Bohai Bay, Tarim, Junggar-Turpan, Sichuan and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia areas.

Ferrous Metals Ferrous metallic minerals with proven reserves include iron, manganese, vanadium and titanium, of which the deposits of iron ores are nearly 50 billion tons, mainly distributed in Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi and Sichuan provinces.

Nonferrous Metals All nonferrous metallic minerals that have been discovered in the world can be found in China. The reserves of rare earth constitute 80 percent of the world's total, while those of antimony 40 percent. The reserves of tungsten are quadruple the combined total elsewhere outside China.