Chinese scientists set sail to the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica for a 60,000km expedition in July 2016. /Xinhua Photo

On January22, 2017, they successfully implemented the first field research on King George Island. /Xinhua Photo

Scientists take a boat to the island as they depart from the research vessel Haiyang Liuhao. /Xinhua Photo

They have three tasks through the expedition, including environment evaluation in the West Pacific and comparative research on deep-sea resources in the eastern part of the Pacific. /Xinhua Photo

The research team is expected to return in mid-April 2017. /Xinhua Photo