Two million barrels of crude oil were shipped from Iran's North Azadegan oil field to China on Oct. 24. The exchange marks the beginning of China's recovery of its investment in the field; according to the contract, another one million barrels will be shipped by the end of this month, Xinhua reported.

North Azadegan oil field is part of Azadegan oil field in southwestern Iran, near the Iran-Iraq border. It is a key investment and cooperation project of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's biggest oil and natural gas company in the Middle East.

In October 2015, the field started trial operation. In April, it began to transport oil, with a production capacity of around 4 million tons of crude oil per year. In September, CNPC and its Iranian counterpart signed an agreement for China to receive three million barrels of crude oil in exchange for its initial investment.

Since the project was started, CNPC has followed stringent standards for construction, technology and environmental protection. In doing so, the North Azadegan oil field became the first foreign-backed project to win an environmental award issued by the local government.