Xi Jinping: China open to space exchanges, cooperation

China’s Shenzhou XV manned spacecraft and a Long March 2F carrier rocket are transferred to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on Monday. Final checks will be conducted ahead of the launch, which is expected in coming weeks. China Daily/Asia News Network

BEIJING — President Xi Jinping reiterated on Monday China’s wish to work with other nations to carry out space exploration and development.

Xi wrote in a congratulatory letter to the United Nations/China 2nd Global Partnership Workshop on Space Exploration and Innovation that the country is willing to deepen its cooperation and exchanges with other nations to advance space exploration and the peaceful use of outer space and to make better use of space technology for the interests of all people around the world.

In the letter, which was read at the workshop’s opening ceremony in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, the president noted that China has been active in space exploration and has conducted a number of remarkable missions including the Chang’e lunar programs, the Tianwen 1 Mars expedition and the Tiangong space station program. These Chinese programs have served to expand mankind’s understanding and knowledge about the universe and boost the common welfare of all people on the planet, he said.

The four-day workshop, hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the China National Space Administration, is focused on building of a new type of space exploration partnership.

Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, said in his address at the workshop’s opening ceremony that the administration wants to cooperate with other space agencies and international organizations, under the framework set by the UN, on rule-making, planning of space exploration strategies, implementation of spaceflights, and scientific data sharing and applications.

In the coming weeks, China will conduct the Shenzhou XV manned spaceflight, sending three astronauts to the Tiangong space station, where they will stay for six months.

The Long March 2F carrier rocket to launch the Shenzhou XV spacecraft was moved to a service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert on Monday. It will have the final checks on its functions in the coming days, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

During the mission, the three astronauts, whose names have yet to be announced, will be mainly tasked with completing the in-orbit construction of the Chinese space station, according to mission planners at the agency.

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