According to China's Ministry of Land and Resources, the number of mines in China has been steadily decreasing through integration activity and structural optimization. By the end of 2010, the total number of mines in China had declined to 112,500, down 11.2 percent from 126,700 at the end of 2005.
On the other hand, the aggregate output of solid minerals from Chinese mines in 2010 reached 9 billion mt, indicating an increase of 3.8 billion mt from 2005.