The institute said that the 25th Chinese Antarctic expedition starting in October would mainly focus on building a new station on Dome A and further exploration of the Antarctic plateau.

Dome A is an Antarctic plateau 1,200 km inland, and is thought to be one of the coldest naturally occurring places on Earth with temperatures believed to reach minus-90 degrees Celsius.

The station, once completed, will be China's first inland Antarctic research station.

Awards for Journalists

The 18th China Journalism Prizes was held on September 3. A total of 261 articles from 2007 received awards-39 received first prizes.

A team of 70 from Chinese press organs, colleges and research institutes, chose the reports.

The China Journalism Prizes, established by the All-China Journalists Association in 1990, and the Changjiang and Taofen Prizes, named after two famous Chinese journalists Fan Changjiang and Zou Taofeng, are the two highest, annual journalism prizes in China.