By July 9, 2017, China had completed the trial exploration of flammable ice in the South China Sea, which extracted more than 300,000 cubic meters during 60 days of non-stop mining. China began research into flammable ice in 1998 and found deposits in the South China Sea in 2007. A number of breakthroughs were made during the trial exploration, ranging from extraction methods to environmental protection. (Photo: China News Service/Zhu Xia)