In responding to RA II Decision 11 (RA II-16), draft concept paper of a Polar RCC (PRCC) on Asian High Mountain Region (AHM-RCC) was developed by China and submitted to the Executive Council Panel of Experts on Polar and High Mountain observations, Research, and Services (EC-PHORS) Services Task Team (STT) in March of 2017, which was thus discussed in the seventh session of EC-PHORS (EC-PHORS-7) in Ushuaia, Argentina. After revision according to the feedback from EC-PHORS-7, a concept paper of AHM-RCC was officially submitted to WMO through the office of the Permanent Representative (PR) of China in May of 2017. The president of RA II, Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, in August of 2017, officially announced his full support for the AHM-RCC.

In the concept paper, the domain of the Asian High Mountains Region (AHMR) was defined as a high mountain area, which is characterized by the presence of the cryosphere, as a prominent feature of the environment, being centered on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), and it includes not only the QTP characterized by the cryosphere, but also the surrounding regions affected by climate change and resources of cryosphere over the QTP. Also, the threats being exposed to AHMR and urgent needs were described, and the capacity of delivering services so as to meet requirements was analyzed. Accordingly, missions and functions of the AHM-RCC were proposed in the concept paper.

Following the formal submission of the concept paper, WMO organized a series of consultations, within the framework of WMO, including an international consultation organized as part of the WMO side event on the WMO High Mountain Summit during the Third Pole Science Summit in July of 2017 (Kunming, China), an informal workshop attended by the WMO Assistant Secretary-General, the chairman of WMO Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) program, and chief of WMO Observing System Division in August of 2017, an in-depth discussion with GCW experts during its 5th Steering Group meeting in January of 2018, and a remote coordination meeting with WMO Secretariat in February of 2018. To be in tune with the concept of WMO Polar RCC and the official approval document of WMO, China accepted to revise the name to the Third Pole RCC, although the actual geographical scope of this centre would provide services to will remain the same.