An unmanned Chinese submersible has set a new national record by sinking 10,767 meters below sea-level in the Mariana Trench in the West Pacific. This makes China the third country after Japan and the United States to have built submersibles capable of reaching depths in excess of 10,000 meters.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences said the vehicle, called the “Haidou-1,” collected biological samples at different sea levels, including some unknown species, over the past couple of months.
In 2012, a Chinese manned submersible, the “Jiao Long,” reached the depth of 7,000 meters in the Mariana Trench.