Guizhou Wujiang Hydropower Development Co, Ltd, a watershed hydropower development company, is to invest 12 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) to develop three to five exploration zones for shale gas development within five years.

GWHD is controlled by China Huadian Corporation, a wholly State-owned enterprise.

Xiong Yu, vice-president and general manager of the GWHD, announced the plan during the annual local legislative and political consultative advisory sessions, Daily Business reported on Feb 3.

Xiong said the company plans to realize large-scale production in five years time, with an annual output of 600 million cubic meters of shale gas. The target output for 2020 is 2 billion cubic meters of shale gas.

The country will import about 289 million metric tons of crude oil this year, up 7.3 percent year-on-year, according to a report released in late January by the Economic and Development Research Institute under the China National Petroleum Corp.

Chinese authorities have stressed the importance of exploring shale gas, and offered tenders for shale gas development. The government also allows private companies to participate in bidding for its development.