China will co-operate more closely with the international community to ensure its advancing space programme benefits global development, said Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan.

He made the remark at the opening ceremony of the 36th Scientific Assembly of COSPAR, or Committee on Space Research, which is the world's major organization in the field. Zeng said that through more than 40 years of struggle, China has already developed a capacity for systematic space research and exploration.

Last October, China launched its second manned spacecraft, which embarked on a multi-day, multi-person space mission.

Zeng said the nation will continue its manned space mission, attempt a moon exploration in 2007, advance observation of Earth's environment from outer space and perform a variety of space-oriented biological and physics-related experiments.

However, while stressing China's independent innovation, observers say the country has been less involved in international co-operation in space science compared with other scientific fields.

"All of our spacecraft have been independently developed without using foreign technologies or equipment," said Qin Lifang, a researcher of Beijing Aerospace Control Centre, at the sidelines of the meeting.

"Europe and the United States have already gone through the earlier stages of space science. We could have learned their experience and technologies to save ourselves time," Qin said.

Increasing China's international co-operation does not only mean it will develop its space science more quickly, but also it will use its space technology to benefit others, Qin said.

China's space science sector will perform more academic exchanges and co-operative research projects with foreign counterparts to share with others the scientific progress it has made, Qin said.

Also, in the emerging process of space exploration, China will work with other countries to develop more reasonable space ethics and maintain order in space to peacefully utilize its resources.

Zeng did not concretely identify the co-operative programmes.

The Double Star Project, one of China's co-operative programmes founded in 2004, has been working together with European Space Agency's Cluster Project to use satellites to observe space magnetic storms.

W Hermsen, vice-president of COSPAR, said there are many potential areas for China and other countries to co-operate in space science, including the exchange of researchers and engineers between institutes in China and Europe.

In addition, China's spacecraft can carry foreign experimental materials and equipment, and Europe's can carry those of China.

"To make extremely high-tech space science benefit the development of industry, the sharing of data between enterprises and space exploration agencies is also very crucial," Hermsen told China Daily.

Source: China Daily