Established in 2004, AFoPS was jointly founded by polar research institutes of China, Japan and South Korea. It is a platform for polar scientific research exchange and cooperation among countries in Asia. At present, it has six member states: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as four observer states: Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. AFoPS consists of AFoPS Committee, Annual General Meeting(AGM) and Working Groups in six fields: Earth Science, Life Science, Planetary Science, Glaciological Science, Ocean Science and Logistics & Outreach.