"Nine years ago, during my first Antarctic expedition at the Great Wall Station, I got to know Chinese expedition team member Dai Yufei," Cármen Sofia Vieira de Sousa, a researcher from the University of Algarve in Faro, Portugal, told Science and Technology Daily (S&T Daily).

Today, Dai is in charge of the station, and Sousa has come back as a project leader.

The Great Wall Station, China's first Antarctic research base established in 1985, has been performing as an inclusive platform for polar scientific research, witnessing the growth of researchers from all the world.

Dai told S&T Daily the station holds international exchanges all year round and has received scientists from Argentina, Russia, Chile, Brazil, Poland, South Korea and Uruguay.

In 2017, Sousa came to the Great Wall Station for the first time during her PhD program, which was part of a collaborative research effort between the University of Algarve and China's Shanghai Ocean University. The cooperative atmosphere and hospitality helped her quickly adapt to the work.

While completing her project, she forged a deep friendship with the Chinese expedition team members, and they celebrated the Spring Festival together.

In 2019, Sousa came again and visited China's research icebreaker Xuelong 2.

Now on her third visit to the Great Wall Station, Sousa is heading a 60-day scientific expedition with support from Portugal's PROPOLAR program to study the ecotoxicological adaptability of organisms to metal pollution in extremely cold environments. The findings will help understand fragile ecosystems' response mechanisms to global environmental pressures.  

Sousa and her colleagues have chosen Antarctic marine invertebrates such as sea anemones and limpets as their research subjects as these are good biological indicators of marine pollution.

The Great Wall Station has a container at the wharf where the natural living environment of organisms can be better restored for in-situ experiments, she explained.

The Great Wall Station is a hub of international scientific cooperation. Shared laboratories, joint field activities and regular meetings have created natural opportunities for cooperation, Sousa's colleague Caio Cesar Ribeiro said.

For example, Ribeiro told S&T Daily that the station has provided them field equipment, stable sample freezing storage and access to analytical instruments, which is crucial for them to carry out research.

On the fragile continent of Antarctica, scientific research has never been a "solo performance" by a single country, but a "chorus" involving all.

For example, the Chinese expedition team has collaborated with Russian scientists to monitor land mammals, formulated a soil environment investigation work plan with Thai researchers, and discussed penguin satellite tracking work with Uruguayan researchers, Dai added.

Through various approaches such as joint expeditions, data sharing and academic exchanges, China is ready to participate in Antarctic governance, expand cooperation, and promote building a community with a shared future for humanity, said Wu Jiawen, deputy leader of China's 42nd Antarctic expedition team.