The Daqing Oilfield, the first large oilfield discovered in China and a spiritual symbol of Chinese workers, can run for a century with tech innovations, said Liu Li, head of the petroleum production team at the Daqing Oilfield of the China National Petroleum Corporation, and a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"I'm honored to tell you on behalf of all oil workers in Daqing," she said at the "Delegates' Corridor" at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday, "that Daqing has changed from oil-dominant to oil and gas combined development."

"We have entered the new energy market and gone global," she added.

The Daqing Oilfield was discovered in 1959, which changed China's oil industry and made a difference to China's industrial development. It still produces a yearly 40 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

The oilfield is famous across China for its workers' spirit of patriotism, devotion and perseverance.

The most well-known example is Wang Jinxi (1923-1970), a Daqing worker nicknamed "Iron Man" for overcoming many difficulties in Daqing's early years.

"The 'Iron Man' spirit is imprinted in our genes," said Liu, whose father is also one of the first oil workers at Daqing. "We have to resort to technological innovations to achieve new breakthroughs. That's the secret to our long-time success."

Liu runs an innovation lab in Daqing, which incubated over a thousand new technologies that helped to achieve 120 million yuan worth of beneficial results.

"There are over 90 similar labs in Daqing," she said.