40 years on

Editor’s note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

An item from Dec 21, 1984, in China Daily showed Xiangyanghong 10, China’s first scientific expedition vessel dispatched to the Antarctic, had dropped anchor near Ushuaia in Argentina, the southernmost city on the globe.

The country’s scientific capacity in the Antarctic has improved rapidly.

China has sent 34 Antarctic expedition teams since 1984 and built four research stations at the South Pole — Great Wall, Zhongshan, Taishan and Kunlun. A fifth is under construction on the Ross Sea Ice Shelf.

In 2016, the country’s first fixedwing aircraft in the Antarctic, Xueying 601, was put into service, which greatly enhanced logistical capacity.

The Polar Research Institute of China of the State Oceanic Administration unveiled a plan early last year to begin site selection for the country’s first airfield in Antarctica.

While beefing up air logistical capacity, the country’s first home- built icebreaker is under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard Co, and will be put into service next year.

Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, is the only Chinese icebreaking research ship in service. It is now serving on the 35th Antarctic expedition.

In January 2014, Xuelong rescued 52 people who had been stranded since December on a Russian research ship.

China’s Antarctic Programs, the country’s first white paper on its Antarctic explorations, was published in May, pledging to boost the country’s capabilities in the exploration and study of the continent.

Besides the scientific expedition, Antarctic tourism is popular among China’s growing middle class.