At the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, officials from the main participating companies said that China could potentially begin the commercial production of shale gas in the coming five-year period, provided that the country steps up its attempts in the direction of improving its extraction technology and lowering the cost.

About the probable huge shale gas production by China in the next few years, Yun Gongmin - general manager of bigwig Chinese electricity firm China Huadian Corp. - said that commercial production of shale gas by the country will apparently bring about a transformation in its energy consumption structure over the coming decades.

In his remarks made on the sidelines of the annual session of the conference, Yun said that the commencement of large-scale shale gas exploration in China "won't take long;" and projected that the move will likely take a maximum of five years.

Yun further added that natural gas had already been generated in one of the shale gas wells of China Huadian in Guizhou province. The company had, in 2012 end, emerged the biggest winner in the second auction of exploration rights of shale gas blocks; winning four blocks out of 20 in central and southern provinces.

Highlighting that fact that Huadian was a non-oil company promoting the shale gas business at the fastest pace in China, Yun told China Daily that, in 2013, "China Huadian is going to invest up to 2 billion yuan to explore shale gas reserves."