Underwater archaeology in Ningbo began in the nineties of the twentieth century. In December 1998, the former China Museum of History set up China's first underwater archaeology workstation in Ningbo; In July 2008, the Underwater Archaeology Ningbo Workstation was officially upgraded to the Ningbo Base of Underwater Archaeology of the National Museum; In July 2010, the National Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Ningbo Base was officially established in Beilun Chunxiao Binhai New City, which opened a new chapter in Ningbo's transition from underwater archaeology to underwater cultural heritage protection.

For more than ten years, Ningbo has made positive contributions to the underwater archaeology and underwater cultural heritage protection of Zhejiang and even China, participated in almost all major underwater archaeology projects in China, hosted a series of high-standard national underwater archaeology work conferences and academic seminars, and also trained a large number of outstanding underwater archaeology team members.