Since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the area under petroleum exploration has continually expanded. The Chinese petroleum industry has developed rapidly. By 1988, crude oil production was 137 MM tons/year (2.74 MM b/d), and China was the world's fifth‐largest oil‐producing nation.The petroleum geology of China has recently advanced in the following five ways: (1) in the study of non‐marine facies hydrocarbon accumulations; (2) in the study of tectonic types of oil‐and gas‐bearing basins; (3) in facies studies of Meso‐Cenozoic lacustrine deposits; (4) in the theory and practice of composite megastructural oil and gas reserves in the Bohai Gulf Basin; and (5) in research on buried‐hill oil and gas traps. Future in‐depth petroleum‐geological studies and continuing intensive exploration activities will ensure that further oil and gas reserve