World's top gold producer and consumer China produced 98.216 mt (3.16 million oz) of gold in the first quarter of 2018, down 3% from a year earlier, the China Gold Association said Monday on its website.

China's gold consumption in Q1 at 284.97 mt (9.16 million oz) was down 5.4% year on year, CGA data showed.

Mined gold accounted for 82.3% of China's Q1 gold output at 80.807 mt, relatively steady from 80.542 mt in Q1 2017, it said.

The remaining 17.409 mt comprised gold produced as a by-product of base metals processing, down 15.7% year on year.

CGA said the drop in gold production in Q1 in line with the downtrend that began in 2017 when domestic miners in the nature reserves were asked by the authorities to either close down or curtail production as Beijing pressed ahead with environment protection policy enforcement.

China's gold production fell 6% on the year in 2017 to 426.142 mt, the first annual decline since 2000.

To offset the fall in domestic production, China hiked imports in Q1 by 49.1% from a year ago at 15.608 mt.

After taking into account the imports, overall Chinese nominal gold supply was up a marginal 1.9% on the year in Q1 at 113.824 mt, CGA said.

During the comparison periods, gold used in jewelry manufacturing rose 5.6% to 180.5 mt. Demand for gold bullion fell 27.6% on the year to 73.28 mt. Gold for industrial application rose 6.6% year on year to 28.49 mt.

China's gold consumption in 2017 at 1,089.07 mt was up 9.4% on the year.