Situated in a large plateau between the Songhua River and Nunjiang River in Heilongjiang Province, the Daqing Oil Field is the largest comprehensive oil production base in China. On September 26, 1959, a commercial oil flow was obtained from well Songji 3 in the Songliao Basin in Heilongjiang Province, marking the discovery of this world-class giant oil field.It was just before the 10th anniversary of the founding of new China. To commemorate the day, Datong Town was renamed Daqing (great celebration), and the whole oil deposit belt was named the Daqing Oil Field. To date it remains the largest oil field in China.

It was put into operation in May of 1960, soon producing two-thirds of the national total. By 1976, the output of its crude oil reached 50.3 million tons making it one of the 10 largest oil fields in the world. Since then on, it had well maintained an output of crude oil standing at 50 million tons or more. Statistics show that Daqing's proven recoverable reserves exceed 5.3 billion tons, and it has produced crude oil of l.405 billon tons, accounting for 47.2 percent of the national total.