China and Britain have agreed to develop a long-term, stable comprehensive strategic partnership, spokesman of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Guo Jiakun said Thursday at a press conference in Beijing.
"Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a successful meeting this morning. The two leaders agreed that China and Britain should develop a long-term, stable comprehensive strategic partnership. This reflects the new vision of both sides for China-Britain relations and provides a positive and stable expectation for cooperation between all sectors of the two countries," Guo said.
At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister Starmer is paying an official visit to China from Jan. 28 to 31, marking the first visit to China by a British prime minister in eight years.
China, Britain agree to develop long-term, stable comprehensive strategic partnership: FM spokesman
China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or the Snow Dragon, arrived at the first station of its 42nd Antarctic expedition in Amundsen Sea on Saturday.
Within the planned 18-day stay in the South Pole, the vessel will complete operations at more than 20 stations.
At 01:00, the Xuelong reached its first oceanographic station in the Amundsen Sea. Crew members aboard immediately began deploying a conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) instrument into the sea to measure salinity and temperature at various depths of seawater.
The first station, with a depth exceeding 4,000 meters, represents the deepest area among all stations.
At an average deployment speed of 60 meters per minute, lowering the equipment from the sea surface to the seafloor alone requires more than an hour.
After all 24 water bottles on the CTD device completed sampling, it was hoisted back into the sampling room. Then, the research team sprang into action. Based on the corresponding depths of each bottle, they swiftly filled various containers with the required seawater samples and immediately transported them to the laboratory for pretreatment.
"We collect samples from every layer of the sea. pH value serves as a crucial indicator of seawater acidity, making it an essential parameter for studying ocean acidification," said Qin Jie, a member of the ocean team on board the Xuelong.
"My research focuses on greenhouse gas concentrations in seawater, requiring samples from all water layers," said Lan Kexin, another ocean team member on board the vessel.
"I study microplankton in the water, primarily their abundance and species composition, which also necessitates samples from all water layers," said Han Zheyi, an ocean team member.
After completing the water sampling operations, the team promptly proceeded without pause to conduct a series of additional tasks, including biological vertical trawling, krill trawling, midwater fish trawls, and gravity core deployments.
China's Xuelong icebreaker starts 42nd Antarctic expedition
