INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

China has signed 66 international space cooperation agreements with 22 states and regions, and 44 of them currently remain in effect, Zhang said at the press conference.

Openness has always been a key principle of China's space program, he said.

The country has engaged in 12 bilateral cooperation mechanisms within intergovernmental frameworks, Zhang said, adding that China has exported communications satellites to Nigeria, Venezuela and Pakistan, and has also contracted with countries, including Bolivia, Belarus, Indonesia and Laos, to export satellites.

China is willing to provide space products and services to more countries and regions, especially developing countries, on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, and peaceful utilization.

Moreover, Zhang stressed that China adheres to a principle of peaceful development in its space missions and the use of outer space for peaceful purposes.

By clearly listing "peaceful development" as a key principle that governs China's space missions, Thursday's white paper demonstrates the nation's resolve in carrying out space activities in a peaceful way, Zhang said.

"It has been a common aspiration for the whole of mankind to explore, develop and utilize space for peaceful purposes," he noted.

The white paper says that China always adheres to the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and opposes the weaponization of, or an arms race in, outer space.

"China develops and utilizes space resources in a prudent manner and takes effective measures to protect the space environment, ensuring that its space activities benefit the whole of mankind," the paper reads.

Moreover, Zhang said that Chinese scientists are keeping in close contact with their Russian peers on the situation of the Yinghuo-1 Mars orbiter.

The orbiter was launched along with Russia's Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) spacecraft last month, but the spacecraft failed to complete the orbital transfer scheduled to take it on the path to Mars.

Russian scientists have been making unremitting efforts to try to save the Chinese orbiter, Zhang said.

MAJOR PROGRESS

According to the white paper, breakthroughs have been made in major space projects, including human spaceflight and lunar exploration, since 2006.

From Sept. 25 to 28, 2008, China successfully launched the Shenzhou-7 manned spacecraft and became the third country in the world to master the key technology of astronaut space extravehicular activity.

In November 2011, China accomplished the first unmanned space rendezvous and docking test between the Tiangong-1 space lab module and Shenzhou-8 spaceship.

Moreover, the country's lunar probe projects have achieved milestone breakthroughs over the past five years. China successfully launched two lunar probes, the Chang'e-1 on Oct. 24, 2007, and Chang'e-2 on Oct. 1, 2010.

The first probe retrieved a great deal of scientific data and a complete map of the moon while the second created a full higher-resolution map of the moon and a high-definition image of Sinus Iridium.