The field, located in Heilongjiang Province, north-east China, and discovered 45 years ago, also produced 1.229 billion cubic metres (240 million cubic feet per day) of natural gas in the same period, the newspaper said.

Last year the field, operated by PetroChina Co, produced oil at a rate of 928,000bopd and gas at 197,000 cubic feet per day.

Wang Yupu, chairman of the Daqing Oilfield Corp, said the company had introduced new extraction techniques to extend production life and improve efficiency.

The proved remaining oil in the field was now estimated at almost 3.8 billion tonnes but last year output at Daqing fell some 52,000bopd, or 5%, from the year before.

The country’s other giant oil field, Shengli, has also peaked, with output steady at about 520,000bopd.

These two fields account for more than 40% of the country’s total output.

Just over a decade ago, China was self-sufficient in oil. Even earlier, it was an oil exporter, thanks to the giant Daqing field.

But since the early 1990s, China's oil consumption has grown 7.5% a year, forcing the nation to look overseas for new supplies and to ease restrictions on foreign investment in upstream oil and gas.