Oceanauts honored as 'heroes'

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Seven oceanauts with China's manned submersible Jiaolong, which proved capable of diving 7,000-m-plus deep, have each been given the title of "Manned Submersible Hero."

The honor, bestowed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, was announced Friday at an award ceremony jointly held by the State Oceanic Administration and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Jiaolong completed a dive of 7,062 meters in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench during its trial operation in June 2012, enabling China to conduct deep-sea scientific research and resource exploration in 99.8 percent of the world's oceans.

The crew behind Jiaolong's record dive were honored as a "Heroic Group."

Prior to the ceremony, President Xi Jinping met with representatives of the honored units and individuals, expressing congratulations and greetings to all science and technology workers as well as officials who helped make the achievement possible.

Meanwhile, Xi called for unity and hardwork to push forward the country's ocean cause toward making new breakthroughs.

Also at the ceremony, the administration and the ministry gave the "Advanced Group" title to 22 units behind the research and development of the project, with 19 people each honored as an "Advanced Individual."