The Northwest Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (NPOCE), an international investigation and research program initiated by China and joined by 19 institutions from 8 countries, is endorsed by Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) as an international cooperative program on April 23, 2010. NPOCE is the first large-scale multi-national investigation and research program in the ocean field that is initiated and led by China.

The NPOCE inauguration meeting held on May 30, 2010 at Qingdao, China. Leaders of CLIVAR and other international scientific organizations, representatives from participating countries, leaders of related ministries of China, and many well-known scientists attended the meeting and evidenced the inauguration and implementation of the international cooperative program.