China announces name of its deep-sea manned submersible

BEIJING -- China has named its new deep-sea manned submersible "Fendouzhe," which means "striver" in Chinese.

An expert panel chose the name from a shortlist of 10 nominees, which were voted by nearly 100,000 web users during an online campaign launched by state broadcaster China Media Group.

The manned submersible for 10,000-meter deep-sea exploration recently completed tank experiments in a Wuxi-based research institute under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.

This 10,000-meter manned submersible project was launched in 2016 by scientists who previously developed manned submersibles Jiaolong and Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior).

According to media reports, the new submersible is expected to dive in the Mariana Trench after the final experiments in Wuxi.