Construction of China's first deep-sea fish farming facility — Shenlan 1 — was completed on Friday in Qingdao, Shandong province, and will be put into operation later this month for salmon cultivation, said Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co.

The offshore submersible aquaculture facility can dive to a depth of 50 meters, and is able to rise or descend according to ambient water temperature, which helps create a suitable environment for nurturing salmon to maturity.

The cylindrical apparatus is 35 meters high and 180 meters in circumference, and can accommodate 50,000 cubic meters of seawater.

The facility can raise 300,000 salmon in one growth cycle, with the fish spending around a year in Shenlan 1, having a targeted production of 1,500 tons, said the builder.

When individual fish reach 5 kilograms, they will be ready to be sold to the Chinese domestic market, Wuchang added.

The equipment will be deployed about 130 nautical miles east of Shandong’s Rizhao in the Yellow Sea.

The new technology will enable China to achieve a breakthrough in large-scale breeding of salmon in open seas, and create a precedent for breeding the fish in offshore areas around the world, said the builder.