On May 18, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced that it had achieved success in drilling fire ice, or methane hydrate, from the seabed in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea. Methane hydrate is akin to methane gas trapped in ice-like crystals; it produces high amount energy when burned and its chemical reaction produces nothing but dioxide and water.

Since methane hydrate is both clean and energy-intensive and is considered the fuel of the future, many media outlets used big, bold headlines, such as "China makes technological breakthrough" and "New energy source found for China" to report the find.

In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say China has indeed achieved a great technological breakthrough in the field.