Since the discovery in the late 18th century， the Antarctic has not only been a stage for geopolitical competition， but also an increasingly important area of global governance. Its political process has been deeply influenced by the interactions between geopolitics and governance politics， which resulted in the contemporary relatively stable political ecology based on the Antarctic Treaty System， with the coexistence of cooperation and competition. However， the development and transformation in economy， technology and politics highlights the limitations of ATS， and the political ecology based on it has been confronted with growing challenge. Given that trend， it is of comprehensive strategic significance for China to maintain the stability of ATS， enhance substantive existence， expand real engagement， strengthen the discourse power in the Antarctic， and to coordinate China's Antarctic and global strategies．