All that glisters is no longer gold in Zhaoyuan

Zhongkuang bought cutting edge color printers from Canada in May, each costing more than $100,000, that allow it to emboss gold in line with customers' wishes. The company will produce five tons of gold this year, Li says.

Services tailored to customer requirements "will significantly consolidate Zhongkuang's market position and core competitiveness", he says.

Such services accounted for 15 percent of Zhongkuang's sales in the first half of this year, the company says. It aims to double that next year. It has set up a 30-person sales team to seek wealthier customers in China's first- and second-tier cities.

Local government has also been looking to diversify Zhaoyuan's economic growth and reduce its dependence on gold, which accounted for 2.2 billion yuan, or 71 percent, of the city's fiscal revenue last year. The government plans to raise the percentage of revenue from other sectors such as gold-related tourism, real estate, food processing and organic agriculture to more than 50 percent of revenue over the next three years.

The city says it is using the money generated from the gold industry to support other non-gold related sectors. Over the past two years, Shandong provincial and Zhaoyuan governments have invested 11.5 billion yuan in more than 70 industrial transformation projects. Another 21 projects were launched with investment of 1.3 billion yuan in the first half of this year.

One mine that exhausted its reserves and closed in 2007 has been turned into a tourist attraction that features a trip to an underground site 500 meters long and 50 meters deep. A gold museum, a replica of an old town, hotels and a park have also been built.

Tan Keliang, Zhaoyuan's vice-mayor, says that after years of development, Zhaoyuan has a complete gold industrial chain from prospecting, mining, smelting and refining to making mine machinery, mine designing and engineering, as well as producing gold, silver and gemstones.

"The government will help the city's businesses find new markets at home and abroad," Tan says.