A 4,500-tonne research vessel on Friday set sail from Shekou Port in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, marking the start of a global ocean expedition and a decade-long scientific program aimed at promoting international cooperation and public engagement in marine research.

The first voyage of the expedition is set to end on Nov. 3, and will cover the Shenhu Area of the northern South China Sea. Research activities will include seawater sampling, nearshore sediment surveys and deep-sea water sampling, providing data for studies in fields such as marine geology, geophysics, geochemistry and biology.

The research is carried out aboard Xiangyanghong 10, which was independently designed and built by China.

The expedition, officially designated "Deep Blue Voyager 2035," was launched by the China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association, the Advanced Institute for Ocean Research under Southern University of Science and Technology, and several other institutions.

Over the next 10 years, the program will work with enterprises, global partners and the public to conduct sea trials of cutting-edge technologies and pioneer citizen science projects.