China's polar research icebreaker the Xuelong, which has completed its scheduled maintenance work, departed port on Monday for the country's upcoming Arctic scientific expeditions.
Much like automobiles needing regular servicing after long-term operation, seagoing vessels require routine inspection and upkeep after a set period of navigation. All maintenance tasks for the Xuelong during this period were centered around its upcoming Arctic expedition missions.
As a core vessel of China's polar research fleet, the Xuelong serves as the heavy-duty workhorse for polar operations, excelling at bulk resupply, ice zone rescue and ice channel opening.
Meanwhile, the Xuelong 2, China's other polar research icebreaker, which underwent maintenance alongside the Xuelong, has entered the final stage of its overhaul.
The vessel is renowned for its bidirectional ice-breaking capability, and is fitted with a unique moon pool system that runs directly through the hull to the seawater, greatly streamlining the deployment and recovery of underwater scientific equipment.
Dubbed the "twin stars" of China's polar research fleet, the two icebreakers have made irreplaceable contributions to the construction of China's Antarctic research stations, Arctic shipping route exploration and marine scientific research. Both vessels will embark on their next quarter's Arctic expedition missions as scheduled once all maintenance work is finalized.
China's polar icebreaker Xuelong wraps up maintenance, departs for Arctic expeditions
The Meishan Area of the Giant Panda National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province has recorded frequent appearances of wild giant pandas in recent months, reflecting the growing vitality of the local panda population and the ongoing improvement of their habitat.
The latest footage, captured by infrared cameras in the park from mid-March to mid-May of this year, recorded the pandas' daytime and nighttime activities on five separate occasions. Some of the pandas were seen roaming alone in the forest, while others were seen foraging and resting.
According to monitoring data, the frequency of wild giant panda sightings in the area has increased significantly this year, and the population has become increasingly active, fully confirming that the giant pandas in the region enjoy excellent habitat conditions and are growing steadily.
Thanks to habitat restoration efforts by local authorities in recent years, the area has witnessed steady improvements in ecological quality, continued expansion of high-quality habitats, and significant increases in the vitality and activity range of wild giant pandas.
The monitoring system has also repeatedly recorded the activities of rare wildlife such as red pandas and markhor, indicating an increasingly diverse biological community and fully demonstrating the remarkable achievements in biodiversity conservation in this area.
"Moving forward, we will continue to leverage the smart monitoring system to further strengthen the protection of giant panda habitats, improve the construction of ecological corridors, conduct precise monitoring of wild populations, and elevate biodiversity conservation efforts in the Wawushan area to new heights," said Yan Fuquan, head of the education and protection office of at the Meishan management bureau of Giant Panda National Park.
The Giant Panda National Park was officially established in 2021, spanning the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu and covering about 22,000 square km.
Since its establishment, about 72 percent of wild giant pandas have been placed under strict protection. The protected area for the panda habitat has increased from 1.39 million hectares to 2.58 million hectares. The park has integrated 73 nature reserves across the three provinces, connecting the habitats of 13 local panda populations. In addition, six ecological corridors have been built to allow pandas to move freely within the region.
Thanks to China's systematic action to better protect its national treasure, the wild giant panda population in the country has grown from about 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900, according to the 2025 data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Frequent wild panda appearances reflect habitat improvement in China's Sichuan
