A cargo of 30,000 tonnes of crude oil sent to China from Angola by Chinese state-owned oil company Sinopec Corp. has been certified as carbon neutral, making it the first shipment of oil to China so certified, Reuters says.

Chinese state-owned COSCO Shipping Lines transported the oil to a Sinopec refinery in eastern China, the news agency quotes Sinopec as saying in a written statement on Wednesday.

The report says Sinopec, China Eastern Airlines and COSCO Shipping Lines jointly certified the cargo as carbon neutral, having bought Chinese Certified Emissions Reductions credits to offset the carbon dioxide produced in the extraction and shipping of the crude, and in the consumption of the refined oil by motor vehicles or aircraft.

The credits will be invested in reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by planting trees and by using solar, wind and biomass energy to generate electricity in China, Reuters says.