The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) announced on Saturday the opening of China's fourth research base in Antarctica.

The new Taishan station stands between two of China's existing stations, the Zhongshan which opened in 1989 and the Kunlun station which opened in 2009. The three stations are on the eastern Antarctic region.

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Taishan's research base's 410 square meter main building is within the 1,000 square meter station located at an altitude of 2,621 meters.

The new station has a circular structure so designed to keep snow from accumulating around the main structure during snowstorms, according to Qu Tanzhou, head of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration which is under the SOA.

The station can comfortably accommodate around 20 people during the summer months. It has a specially designed runway that can be used during severe weather conditions.

This new station's facilities have been carefully designed and constructed for scientific observation, and have the provisions and capabilities for power generation, communication and machinery maintenance. The station provides comfortable accommodation and has emergency shelter features, according to officials.

The station also has ample storage for oil and equipment for a 400-ton inland vehicle.

Taishan was built in 53 days by 28 crew members of the30th Antarctic scientific expedition mission.

In his letter of congratulations to the research team of the new Antarctic station, President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of scientific research in increasing knowledge of nature as well as in the progress of mankind.

Xi pointed out that the new Chinese research base will not be solely for the country's scientific research but will also be a platform for sharing scientific information with scientists from other parts of the world.