The north-eastern part of China is the major oil and gas producing base, which is composed of Daqing, Liaohe and Jilin oilfields with an oil production accounting for about 53.5 percent of the total production in China. The pipeline length is up to 3399.6km.

After its annual production reached to 1066.89×104 tons in 1966, the proven oil resources was `undeveloped in full swing. On Aug.3, 1970, after consulted with Yu Qiuli and Kang Shien, Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Premier Li Xiannian proposed to produce the back-up resources in Daqing oilfield in advance and decided to concentrate fund for the construction of the sales pipeline for crude produced in Daqing oilfield. On August 3rd 1970, the leadership group for the north-eastern pipeline construction had been formally set up, named as the “Third August Project” in the north-eastern China.

As the start of the project, the construction of Qing-Fu(Daqing to Fusun)pipeline was rushed in Sep.1970. It crosses Nunjiang at Maoxing, Zhaoyuan county in Heilongjiang province, runs southwards through Songyuan, Nongan, Changcun, Gongzhuling, Lishu and Siping in Jilin province, enters Tuchang and Tieling in Liaoning province and finally reaches Fushun, an industrial city concentrated relatively with refineries. The final terminal is located at Kangletun of Fushun to supply oil for Fushun No. 1, 2 & 3 refineries through branches. Qin-Fu pipeline is 596.8 km long, including 558.6 km of O.D. 720 mm line. The pipeline construction commenced in September 1970,was commissioned in August 1971 and put into operation on 31st October the same year. This project had a total investment of 293 million RMB with an annual oil transportation capacity of 2000×104 tons. It is the first time in China to construct such a long distance and large diameter pipeline to transport “high pressure, high temperature, high production” oil.

After the completion of Qin-Fu pipeline, a survey and design institute was established officially in the command headquarters ( which was later merged with the design institute of Pipeline Bureau as the Pipeline Survey & Design Research Institute). The working force was dispatched in completely to establish officially No.1, 2 & 3 Pipeline Departments ( later renamed as No. 1, 2 & 3 pipeline Companies). Since a professional working force was set up, the practice of “ people war” has been changed in the subsequent engineering. Pipeline from Tieling to Qinhuangdao was laid in 1972, the dual one from Daqing to Tieling laid in Oct.1973 and the line from Tieling to Dalian laid in Oct.1974. Meanwhile, some short distance pipelines were completed also, including pipelines from Fusun to Anshan refinery, from No. 2 oil plant to Liaoning power plant, from Dandong to Xinyi district of Korea, from Panjin to No. 5 oil plant in Jinxi. In five years till Sept. 1975, eight oil transportation pipelines had been laid with a total length of 2471km, including 2181 km trunk pipeline. The north-eastern pipeline network has gradually come into being, which is centered at Tieling station and links with three oil transmission veins, the pipelines from Daqing to Fusun, Qinhuangdao and Dalian.
The “ Third August project” in north-east China has explored and established a mode for organization, construction and management talored to the Chinese context for pipeline construction and laid a fundation for the stipulation of all the specifications in oil pipeline survey, design, engineering, operation and management in China.