China committed to intl space cooperation

China's manned space program is committed to international cooperation in the fields of technology, space application and astronaut training, a senior official said on Monday.

China will consistently adhere to the principle of peaceful use, equality, mutual benefit and common development in the construction of its manned space station, due to be completed around 2020, Wang Zhaoyao, director of the country's manned space program office, told an international seminar in Beijing.

The country will cooperate with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and space agencies of other nations and regions, Wang said at the annual seminar on manned spaceflight, co-hosted by the UNOOSA.

Collaboration should be conducted either in research and production of individual pieces of equipment, components and modules, or in subsystem and cabin development, he said.

According to the official, joint studies and onboard experiments should be conducted with foreign counterparts in aerospace science and medicine.

China will also select and train astronauts for other countries "at a proper time" and these astronauts will jointly conduct spaceflights with Chinese counterparts, he said, adding exchanges will be conducted with other countries in this field.

China will actively share technological achievements of the manned space program with other countries, especially with developing nations, in order to boost common development, Wang vowed.

"Cooperation should be either bilateral or multilateral, with diversified and flexible models based on peace and a win-win cooperation," he said.

China has established sound cooperative relations with the UNOOSA, European Space Agency and space organizations of countries including Russia, France and Germany. It has also begun dialogue and exchanges with US organizations.

China and Russia have conducted active cooperation in astronaut training and extravehicular spacesuit research, according to Wang.

Chinese scientists also conducted a joint biological experiment aboard the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft with German counterparts in 2011. And China and France jointly researched space life sciences and gained substantial results, he said.

The five-day seminar, which opened on Monday, will be attended by more than 120 manned space experts from more than 20 countries and regions.

China will mark the 10th anniversary of its first manned spaceflight during the seminar. Six Chinese and foreign astronauts will talk to students of Tsinghua University at a sub-forum.

China is the third country after the United States and Russia to acquire the technologies and skills necessary for space rendezvous and docking procedures, as well as supply manpower and materials for an orbiting module via different docking methods, key steps toward the country's goal of building a permanent manned space station by 2020.

Since its first manned space mission in 2003, China has sent 10 astronauts and six spacecraft into space.