By the end of 2014 China has invested 23 billion yuan in shale gas exploration and discovered nearly 500 billion cubic meters of shale gas reserves, according to a China Shale Gas Investigation Report (2014) issued by the China Geological Survey of the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Since 2009 the Ministry of Land and Resources has invested 660 million yuan to drill 62 test wells and conduct two-dimensional seismic analysis of 210 kilometers. A lot of valuable discoveries have been made. The governments of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Guizhou Province have raised 460 million yuan to dig 45 test wells and make two-dimensional seismic analysis of 740 kilometers. Related enterprises have spent 22 billion yuan on carrying out two-dimensional seismic analysis of 20,000 kilometers, drilling 669 wells and installing 235 kilometers’ pipelines.