The site of a large shipwreck from World War I has been discovered in the peripheral waters of the Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province. The wreck contains valuable underwater cultural relics from World War I. 

More than 100 relics, including ammunition, weapons, coal bricks and steel ship materials, have been found at the site of the sunken vessel. Two of the discovered items have writing on them, while 45 relics have been determined to be recoverable. 

Compared to three other possible underwater cultural heritage spots that are being explored in Jiaozhou Bay, the sunken ship is the most significant discovery as it provides significant empirical data for studying the naval battle that took place between Japan and Germany during World War I. 

An underwater archaeological survey that kicked off on August 5 paved the way for the discovery of the sunken vessel. Launched by leading organizations such as the Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Center of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the more than one-month-long survey detected a total of 23 possible underwater sites, of which 14 spots have been examined by divers so far. 

Jiaozhou Bay is rich in marine cultural heritage, and Qingdao is one of the starting cities in the East for the Maritime Silk Road. 

All the aquatic cultural relics collected from this excavation have been documented by investigators. Some items from the sunken ship were salvaged, while the main body of the vessel remains on the seabed.