BEIJING -- The detail design of China's second icebreaker will be conducted by a domestic shipbuilding company, according to the Polar Research Institute of China.

The institute signed a cooperative agreement regarding the detail design with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) on Monday.

"This marks a giant step toward the goal of building a completely domestic icebreaker," said Chen Lianzeng, deputy director of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

The vessel was planned by the State Council to be designed by Chinese and foreign experts but entirely built by China, according to the SOA.

The basic design of the icebreaker, China's second after the Ukraine-imported Xuelong, was done by the Finland-based Aker Arctic Technology Inc.

Due to go into operation in 2014, the new icebreaker will join the Xuelong for polar expeditions.