Sansha, China's southernmost city, inaugurated its first academic research workstation on Friday. Based on Yongxing Island, the workstation focuses on marine meteorological monitoring and forecasting, disaster prevention and mitigation in the South China Sea. 

Mayor Deng Zhong said Sansha is home to a vast sea area, abundant resources and a unique tropical marine climate with the best natural environment for marine scientific research.

"We will combine the research advantages of atmosphere, ocean, biology, medicine and other disciplines to strive for new breakthroughs in marine research," said Dai Yongjiu, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The workstation was also named after Dai who has made remarkable contributions to numerical weather and oceanic climate research.

"The workstation will give full play to meteorological observation in disaster prevention and mitigation, maritime transportation, marine resources development and deep-sea fishing" said Xin Jiwu, director of the Hainan Meteorological Service.

The oceanographic research and training vessel named after Sun Yat-sen University and the national supercomputing center in Guangzhou will also provide support to the workstation, said Gao Song, president of Sun Yat-sen University. 

Officially inaugurated on July 24, 2012, Sansha City is in Hainan Province and has jurisdiction over the islands of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha and their maritime areas. It is a prefecture-level city with the largest sea area, the smallest land area and the smallest population in China.

(With input from Xinhua)