China will build an airstrip in Antarctica, a new step in the rapid strengthening of its presence in the white continent where it already has four research stations, reported Monday the state press.
This infrastructure will be used to transport men and material, to the four bases that China has in Antarctica in the southern hemisphere, where it also plans to build a new station beginning in 2015, the newspaper Evening News Beijing said.
Chinese researchers are currently "dependent on sea transport," which "seriously affects their capacity for scientific research" in waters often unnavigable due to ice, the paper said.
Thirty nations have a research station in Antarctica, Beijing has devoted significant resources to strengthen the Chinese presence.
These efforts were illustrated by the repeated tasks of the Chinese icebreaker MV Xue Long (Snow Dragon) in the region.
On the other side of the globe, China, the world's largest energy consumer, is also looking to establish itself in the Arctic where the vast hydrocarbon reserves are still up for grabs.
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