China's polar research team has completed the country's first-ever cooperative operation of deep-sea manned submersibles, significantly advancing collaboration and its capabilities in deep-sea conditions.

The team returned to port on Monday following a 98-day mission at sea, much of which was within the Arctic Circle.

The world's first ice-breaking manned deep-sea submersible support vessel, Tansuo 3, set sail on July 22 carrying the China-developed submersibles Fendouzhe and Jiaolong. The 15,000-nautical-mile mission was jointly organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the CAS serving as the leading institution.

Click the video and follow the journey.

Yu Shiying contributed to this story.