Sun Laiyan, the head of China National Space Administration (CNSA), met with Sean
O'Keefe, head of? US National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) headquarters in Washington, D.C. on
Tuesday.
Sun said they discussed cooperation possibilities with a focus
on space exploitation, geoscience and space science, and agreed to
establish a regular exchange mechanism to promote bilateral contact
and understanding.
O'Keefe plans to visit CNSA next year, but the schedule has not
yet been decided.
Although no specific plans were made for Sino-US cooperative
projects, the talks were a historic step. Last month, China for the
first time took part in a NASA cooperation conference, joining 15
other countries.
US President George W. Bush has emphasized that increased
international cooperation is essential to the space exploration
plan he unveiled last January.
(CRI.com, China.org.cn December 3, 2004)