China's research icebreaker Xuelong 2 on the country's 40th Antarctic expedition made its first clock change on board on Friday as it crossed from the GMT+8 time zone to GMT+9.

The primary objective of the expedition is to establish China's fifth Antarctic research station near the Ross Sea in the Antarctic, which is set to become the country's third year-round base on the icy continent after the Zhongshan Station and Great Wall Station and the first station facing the Pacific Ocean. It will serve as a hub of observation and research on multiple disciplines such as basic marine environment, biology and ecology.