Chinese researchers start 2024 Arctic expedition at Yellow River Station

This photo taken by a mobile phone on April 30, 2024 shows members of Chinese Arctic expedition team posing for photos in front of China's Yellow River Station at Ny-Alesund in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Three Chinese researchers arrived at China's Yellow River Station in the Arctic on Monday to conduct a variety of scientific surveys across the region over the year. (Chinese Arctic expedition team/Handout via Xinhua)

Three Chinese researchers arrived at China's Yellow River Station in the Arctic on Monday to conduct a variety of scientific surveys across the region over the year.

Hu Zhengyi, head of the Yellow River Station, told Xinhua that the station expects to host over 50 researchers this year, who will engage in seasonal expeditions spanning four quarters.

Post-pandemic expeditions at the Yellow River Station have resumed gradually since last July, during which team members have carried out a range of operational surveys and scientific research projects in the fields of glaciology, terrestrial and marine ecology and space physics.

Chinese and Norwegian scientists have also jointly undertaken studies on environmental pollutants in the Arctic.

Established in July 2004, the Yellow River Station is China's first Arctic research station, located in Ny-Alesund, a small town in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

In recent years, China has successfully carried out multiple Arctic scientific expeditions using platforms such as the polar icebreakers "Xuelong" and "Xuelong 2," the Arctic Yellow River Station and the China-Iceland Arctic Science Observatory. 

This photo taken by a mobile phone on April 30, 2024 shows China's Yellow River Station at Ny-Alesund in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Three Chinese researchers arrived at China's Yellow River Station in the Arctic on Monday to conduct a variety of scientific surveys across the region over the year. (Chinese Arctic expedition team/Handout via Xinhua)