China's icebreaker Xuelong docks at an ice covered area in the Antarctic during a 2014 expedition. [Photo/Sina Weibo] China's first home-built polar research vessel and ice breaker has been named Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon 2, according to a report of Science and Technology Daily on Tuesday. The construction of the ship, jointly designed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Finland-based Aker Arctic Technology, was launched by Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) in December. The new vessel will be 122.5 meters long and be able to break through 1.5-meter thick ice at a maximum speed of 3 knots, said the Polar Research Institute of China. Xuelong 2 is scheduled to be completed in 2019, when it will team up with the country's currently only icebreaker Xuelong to form a polar research fleet, conducting scientific research missions and supplying resources to polar regions. Xuelong, the country's first icebreaker, was built in Ukraine and put into service in 1994. China first sent an expedition team to the Antarctic in 1984. Since then, the country has established four scientific research stations in the Antarctic. tyvek event wristbandssilicon or siliconecool wristbandscheap custom wristbandswristband keychainblack rubber bracelets
Tilak Marapana, visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, speaks at a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relationship and the 65th anniversary of the Agreement on Rice for Rubber held by the Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing on Oct 31, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China will provide hard and soft connectivity in the Indian Ocean that is required for rapid economic and social development, especially in Sri Lanka, said visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana on Tuesday. He made the remark at a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relationship and the 65th anniversary of the Agreement on Rice for Rubber organized by the Sri Lankan embassy. The longstanding, close and friendly relations between the two countries are built on a solid foundation of historic, economic and cultural ties based on friendship, cooperation, mutual trust and understanding and respect for the territorial integrity of the two countries, said Marapana. He also noted that Sri Lanka is very keen to reach an early conclusion to the Free Trade Agreement with China in the near future that would expand more trade avenues for both countries. Karunasena Kodituwakku, the ambassador of Sri Lanka to China, said at the event that his Chinese friends are fully aware about Sri Lanka, its popularity as tourist destination, historical as well as contemporary warm friendship between our two countries. Both countries have assisted each other whenever necessity arose, said Kodituwakku. I wish most sincerely to see friendship between our countries to become more and more stronger. Kodituwakku also said that China has now committed to the global community, and is prepared to share the prosperity it has accomplished in the past two decades with the rest of the world.
