Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping Tuesday called for increased efforts to tap China's oil resources to meet rising energy demands.

He said the spirit of patriotism and dedication, which had nourished the development of the Daqing oilfield in the past five decades, must be followed in the oil production sector generally.

Xi was speaking at a meeting in Daqing city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province commemorating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the oilfield, China's largest by output.

Because energy demand would keep growing alongside economic growth, China was facing increasing challenges in oil and natural gas supply, Xi said.

"This urgently requires us to make further progress in the development and the use of oil resources. It is critically important to our national security and economy," he said.

Discovered in 1959, the field has produced more than 2 billion tonnes of crude oil since production started in 1960. This accounts for 40 percent of the national total for the same period.

The discovery and production of the field, independently by Chinese only 10 years after the founding of new China, greatly encouraged the nation to achieve self-sufficiency in critical resources through hard work.

Xi called on the oilfield to make new and greater contributions to China's oil industry.

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2009)