China to open int'l institute for Arctic studies

 REYKJAVIK, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China will launch its first international Arctic cooperation and research institute in Shanghai, sources attending a Sino-Iceland workshop told reporters here.

The workshop on Arctic studies was held Friday as part of the first formal visit to an Arctic country by China's fifth Arctic expedition team, aboard the icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon".

The new Sino-Northern Europe cooperation and research institute for Arctic studies will cover issues like adaptation to climate change and sustainable development, cooperation between Northeast Asia and North Europe on Arctic economic development and cooperation strategies and policies.

The institute, to be founded by the Polar Research Institute of China with the support of an Icelandic research center, will initiate¹ research projects, arrange exchanges of scholars, organize meetings and publish annual reports among other activities.

During the expedition team's four-day visit, China and Iceland also signed a cooperation memorandum² to set up a joint³ polar light observation station in northern Iceland, which experts say will significantly boost space science studies and improve polar environmental change forecasting.

China's 120-member expediton team, including researchers, coordinators, support staff, reporters, the ship's crew, four scientists from France and Denmark and another from China's Taiwan, arrived in the Icelandic capital Friday afternoon.

The A-2 class icebreaker, capable of breaking ice 1.2 meters thick, will be open to the public. Iceland's president and government officials are also expected to visit.

Expedition leader Yang Huigen said it was of great importance for China to cooperate with arctic countries like Iceland, which provided significant help to China's Arctic research.

Xuelong set out from the port city of Qingdao on July 2 and will travel an estimated 17,000 nautical⁴ miles during its 90-day voyage. It is scheduled to return to Shanghai on Sept. 29.

1 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

2 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。