China's shale gas exploration and development technology has entered the early stages of large-scale development, a report said on Wednesday.

Released during a three-day international event - China Mining 2015 – the report said exploration and development of shale gas in the Sichuan Basin has made a major breakthrough, as they discovered the first un-compartmentalized field with a geological reserve of one hundred billion cubic meters.

By the end of 2014, China had spent 23 billion yuan for exploration and development and has proven reserves of 106.8 billion cubic meters with an expected annual output of 3.2 billion cubic meters, the report said.

It said the shale gas resource was rich and widespread in China with huge potential for commercialization.

From 2009 to 2012, the Ministry of Land and Resources spent 660 million yuan on investigative work in key areas. It also made evaluations on the potential resource in 41 basins and regions.