CHONGQING, April 2 -- The Fuling shale gas field in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has put into operation 33 new wells in the first quarter of this year, up 50 percent from the previous year, according to the Fuling branch of Sinopec Jianghan Oilfield, the developer.

The gas field has produced 1.819 billion cubic meters of gas during the period, of which 1.745 billion cubic meters were sold, according to the developer.

As the country's first large-scale shale gas field to enter commercial development back in 2014, Fuling has become a clean energy source for more than 70 cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China.