China stands ready to work with other countries to jointly explore outer space: FM spokeswoman

(ECNS) -- China stands ready to work with other countries to step up cooperation, jointly explore and engage in peaceful use of outer space and make greater new contributions to the progress of human civilization, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a news conference on Monday. 

She said that the exploration and use of outer space must serve the wellbeing and interests of all countries, which is a universally recognized principle in the law on outer space.

To share and conduct joint research on lunar samples is a helpful way for scientists of the world to study the formation and evolution of the Moon and explore the unknown, Mao added.

The spokeswoman cited the China National Space Administration (CNSA) as saying that China gave France and Russia each a 1.5-gram lunar sample for research purposes during President Macron’s visit this month and President Putin’s visit in February last year. In return, Russia gave a 1.5-gram lunar sample to China during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia last month. The samples China gave them were collected from the Moon by the Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020.

Mao stressed that China is committed to international space cooperation and exchanges on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. "We have issued the Regulations on the Management of Lunar Samples, which encourages research on lunar samples and promotes the sharing of scientific findings. Scientists from countries including Australia, Russia, France, the U.S., the UK and Sweden have participated in the scientific study of China’s lunar samples," she added.