A team of 11 Chinese scientists left Beijing Tuesday for the North Pole to carry out research in the Arctic region and prepare to open the country's first scientific research station there at the end of this month.

The team is heading for Svalbard Island, Norway, according to Yang Huigen, deputy head of the China Polar Research Center based in Shanghai, and first chief of the China's Arctic station.

The first group of scientists will carry out a month of research on atmospheric physics, maritime life, meteorology, glaciers and GPS tracking.

The station is a two-story building with a total area of 500 square meters on Svalbard Island. It has laboratories, offices, reading rooms, storerooms and dorms that can accommodate 20 to 25 staff. At the top of the building is an observatory.

The 11 scientists, aged between 27 and 65, are from the China Polar Research Center, the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Wuhan University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Science and Technology of China and the State Oceanic Administration.

Most of them have experience with scientific research in either the Antarctic or the Arctic, said Yang.

In 1999 and 2003, China launched two Arctic expeditions.