China's manned submersible Fendouzhe, or "Striver," surfaced on Nov. 10, 2020, after descending 10,909 meters below sea level for six hours of data collection and scientific research in the Mariana Trench.
The feat set a new deep-sea diving record for China.
The successful trial verified the various functions and performances of the submersible as well as China's breakthroughs in deep-sea equipment and technologies. It also marked the country's entry into the top echelon of deep-sea scientific research and provided strong technical support for future research.
Deep-sea exploration in China can be traced back more than 30 years. Its first manned submersible, the "7103 Lifeboat," was developed in 1986 and reached 300 meters below sea level.
In July 2010, China's first self-developed deep-sea manned submersible, "Jiaolong," reached 3,759 meters beneath the waves, making the country the fifth in the world to dive to over 3,500 meters below sea level after the U.S., France, Russia and Japan. Two years later in June 2012, Jiaolong set a diving record of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench.
In addition to self-developed manned submersibles such as Jiaolong and Deep Sea Warrior, China has also stepped up its efforts in unmanned submersibles, producing such recent vessels as Haidou, Haiyan and Haiyi.