China expects to test its manned submersible, designed to submerge to a depth of 10,000 meters, and put it into service by 2020, which will create a new record to further enhance China’s ocean capability and research level, the project chief designer revealed.

To realize this goal, China has conducted its deep-sea scientific investigation in an orderly manner, from the recent deep diving of “Shenhai Yongshi” manned submersible to Jiaolong’s planned return to the Mariana Trench for 40-day adaption sea test later this year, according to Ye Cong, the chief designer of the manned submersible project.

After a 121-day expedition in the Indian Ocean, China’s manned submersible “Shenhai Yongshi” (“Deep Sea Warrior” in Chinese) returned to Sanya, a city in southern China’s Hainan province, on Sunday. In this voyage, the “Deep See Warrior” operated in hydrothermal area with complex geological conditions.

With an average six-plus-hour underwater operation, the submersible set a series of new records in China’s manned deep-diving history.

“The successful expedition increased our confidence in operating the science ship, personnel management, the submersible, and deep-sea scientific equipment developed by our country,” Liu Zhu, captain of Tansuo-1, the ship that loaded “Deep Sea Warrior,” was quoted as saying by CGTN.

In addition, the localization rate of this 4,500-meter manned submersible reached 95%, which greatly improved the cost-effectiveness of scientific research, according to Science and Technology Daily.

Jiaolong manned submersible, another of the country’s leading scientific developments in deep-sea diving, is another record holder. In 2012, it completed the largest designed depth sea test in the Mariana Trench. Submerging 7,062 meters under the sea, it set a new world record for working manned submersibles.

After five years of development, Jiaolong will return to the Mariana Trench for a 40-day adaptive sea trial this July. It is expected to dive at a depth of 7,000 meters and perform some 10 dives in total. Afterward, Shenhai-1 will carry it to conduct the 56th Chinese voyage mission in the West Pacific, said Ding Zhongjun, deputy chief designer of the National Deep-Sea Base Management Center.