Chinese sub reaches new depth milestone

Chinese sub reaches new depth milestone - A Chinese submersible led the country's deepest manned dive on Tuesday in the latest technological milestone for China, which theoretically brings most of the seabed resources within its reach vast.

Jiaolong the undersea craft - named after a legendary Sea Dragon - reaches 5057 meters (16 591 feet) below sea level in a test ride in the northeastern Pacific, said the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

Although less than half as deep as a record dive of the U.S. Navy in 1960, underscores the power of China push to catch up with advanced nations in space, the sea and polar research, and refers to the fast-growing technical possibilities.

This campaign has a space program in 2003 in China only the third nation, illustrates the manned space flight have been punished.

The Jiaolong - designed for a maximum depth of 7,000 meters - three people carried out to 4027 meters deep in a test on Thursday.

He led the test dive to the 5,000-meter mark on Tuesday morning to break into international waters, said the SOA.

Then the U-boat of the three-man crew arrived on the deck of the ship's main mission triumphantly holding a Chinese flag in images broadcast on state television.

The test for the success showed that the U-boat to reach a position more than 70 percent of the planet was ocean floor, said the SOA.

China has pushed hard in recent years, needs oil, minerals and other resources to fuel its growth to obtain, and has said its submarine program in scientific research and peaceful exploration and use of natural resources is aligned.

Scientists say that the ocean floors contain rich deposits of potentially valuable minerals, but the extreme depths no technical difficulties in harvesting them on a large scale.

But it can not start in China a long time reaching this wealth, said Jian Zhimin, director of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology at Tongji University in Shanghai, told AFP.

"I do not think it can be a very long time, carry up to China Deep-ocean-floor mining can," he said, noting that many of the most valuable oceanic mineral resources are located around the Jiaolong the maximum depth of 7,000 meters.

The SOA, said the 7,000-meter diving pump-dive in 2012 would be tried.

The U.S. Navy reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench - the deepest point of the ocean at 11,000 feet - in 1960.

But China's appetite for resources, rapid military expansion and increasing self-awareness about maritime territorial claims have sparked concern.

During a dive to the bottom of the Jiaolong disputed South China Sea last year, she planted a Chinese flag into the seabed in what some saw as a provocation.

The South China Sea believed that is rich in oil and gas claims in whole or in parts of China and some other states.

Some concerns were also expressed that ocean-going vessels such as military applications, the development or division may have communication cables.

China's successful dive comes after Japanese media earlier this year said Japan planned to continue their search for submarine mineral resources, the establishment of a potential race for resources in the seabed.

Japanese researchers earlier this month gave enormous reserves of rare earths discovered - substances used in many high-tech electronics - on the Pacific seabed.

China's state news agency Xinhua quoted the submarine's chief designer Xu Qinan than touting its "state-of-the-art" systems, but noted that some components had been imported from abroad, such as high-definition video and transmission technology.