China will explore the Antarctic and the deep sea with newly-developed equipment this year, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said.

The SOA will establish an air service team for Antarctic exploration, which will help form a full monitoring platform of the land, sea and air.

Technology and equipment adapted to the polar environment as well as monitoring and application service systems will be developed, the SOA said.

The SOA will also carry out a pilot deep-sea mining project, as well as exploration and deep-sea biological diversity research. An application service platform based on the homemade manned deep-sea submersible, and a deep-sea space station will be built.

In addition, the SOA will also conduct the 7th Arctic research expedition in 2016 and will try to arrange a joint Arctic Ocean expedition with Russia for the first time.

Zhang Zhanhai, head of the department of strategic planning and economy, said the administration will advance innovative development patterns for the ocean economy involving Internet and big data, and a number of state oceanic laboratories will be built.