Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday congratulated Chinese scientists on the successful completion of a manned deep-sea mission, which dived to a national record depth of 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench, at the Pacific Ocean.

The country's new manned submersible "Fendouzhe," which means "striver" in Chinese, concluded the historic dive. It returned to Nanshan Port in Sanya City, south China's Hainan Province at 8:30 a.m. BJT on Saturday. 

In a congratulatory letter, Xi said the operation has embodied China's comprehensive strength in the field of marine high-tech.

He also extended warm congratulations and sincere greetings to scientific researchers who are committed to the deep-sea equipment development and scientific studies. 

Xi encouraged scientists and researchers to make greater contributions to China's development, as well as to humankind's understanding, protection and utilization of the ocean.

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The Fendouzhe project was launched in 2016, with some of the best submersible engineers in China involved.

Since October 10 this year, the submersible has conducted 13 successful dives at Mariana Trench, including eight ones deeper than 10,000 meters. 

On November 10, the submersible dived to a depth of 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench, a new record for China's manned deep-sea diving operation. The previous record was 10,058 meters set on October 27, by the same vehicle at the same trench.