Construction of a national deep-sea base officially took off on Nov. 8 in Qingdao, a coastal city of Shandong Province.

After being completed in 2015, the deep-sea base is expected not only to be a home port for the Jiaolong manned submersible, but also act as a support base for deep-sea equipment.

Moreover, it will act as a base for scientific education made available to the whole population. Citizens will have the opportunity to take the Jiaolong below the water's surface.

A series of facilities, including wharfs, a deep-sea equipment maintenance workshop and large-scale experimental pools, as well as oceanaut training facilities, will be put into use by that time, said Liu Feng, director of the National Deep Sea Center based in the coastal city.

At present, only four countries -- Russia, the U.S., France and Japan -- own a deep-sea base.