China's 41st Antarctic expedition team, after setting sail on Nov. 1 for a seven-month mission, is approaching Zhongshan Station, a Chinese research base in the polar continent.
The expedition is being carried out by more than 460 people and three ships, including research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon and Snow Dragon 2, as well as cargo vessel Yong Sheng.
During the mission, researchers will build the supporting infrastructure for China's Qinling Station in Antarctica, investigate the impact of climate change on the Antarctic ecosystem, and conduct international research and logistics cooperation.
Zhongshan Station, set up on Feb 26, 1989, is located in the Larsemann Hills in East Antarctica with a total area of 378 hectares.
As the second of four scientific research bases on the Antarctic ice sheet built by China, the Zhongshan Station serves as a key hub for inland expeditions and supports research in meteorological observation, oceanography, geology, and other fields.
"Zhongshan Station is China's largest scientific research base in East Antarctica and our second permanent research station. After so many years of construction in East Antarctica, its size and scale of scientific research have become very large. Our research has extended from the earliest fields of ice and snow environment and space environment to also cover astronomy and biological and ecological monitoring now," said Hu Zejun, head of Zhongshan Station.
"With the support of Zhongshan Station, Kunlun and Taishan stations have been built. Zhongshan Station serves as not only a base for research in the station and surrounding areas, but also a supporting base of China in East Antarctica for Kunlun Station and Taishan Station," Hu said.
China's 41st Antarctic expedition team nears research station
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing on Tuesday, with both sides pledging to promote the China-Vietnam community with a shared future.
Noting that China and Vietnam are comrades in the socialist cause and good partners on the path of reform, Han said General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam have made strategic plans for advancing the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, providing clear direction for the development of bilateral relations.
Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Han said the two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, maintain strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, consolidate the foundation of public opinion, strengthen multilateral coordination and promote the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, bringing more benefits to the two peoples.
Bui Thanh Son said that developing long-term friendly relations with China is the consistent proposition, objective requirement, strategic choice and top priority of Vietnam's diplomacy.
Vietnam firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation with China, and jointly promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future with strategic significance, he added.
Chinese, Vietnamese officials pledge to promote China-Vietnam community with shared future
