Chinese scientists for the 34th expedition in Antarctica form the number 34 onboard Xuelong icebreaking research vessel.

China will be a great power of polar research as it prepares to build its 5th expedition station at the South Pole, People’s Daily Overseas Edition commented on Nov. 22.

Since 1984, when China first set up Changcheng Station in Antarctica, three more stations have followed. Hoping to strengthen its study of the approximately 14 million-square kilometers of complicated landform and climate, China is preparing to establish more expedition stations for richer research data.

In the next five months, Chinese scientists will carry out their 34th expedition in Antarctica. A series of surveys, including preliminary work for the construction of China’s fifth station in the Antarctic, will be conducted on west coast of the Ross Sea.

The Ross Sea is the southernmost water that current ships can reach. It is home to a series of famous volcanoes and the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, and is hailed as a natural laboratory for studies on energy exchange, substance exchange, and interaction of multi-spheres.

The establishment of the new expedition station along the Ross Sea will not only offer China a new probe into the South Pole, but also fill the research gap on key subjects, promoting international cooperation on Antarctic expedition.

The new station will be a perennial one that accommodates 80 people in summer and 30 in winter. With a construction area of 5,500 square meters, its radiant scope could reach 300 to 500 kilometers. The station is expected to be completed around 2022, said Zhang Tijun, assistant to the team leader of the 34th expedition team.

The new station to be built has also attracted worldwide attention. Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao noted that China is quickly becoming a polar research power, despite its short history of Antarctic expedition.

Quoting a Zelanian scholar, AFP said that China is already a major research force in Antarctica, as one of the few countries that have multiple research stations at the South Pole.