China to hold talks on building asteroid defence system

China will hold a discussion on building a defense system against near-earth asteroids, a senior space agency official said on Saturday, as the country steps up efforts towards realizing its longer-term space ambitions. Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, didn't provide any further details in his opening remarks at a ceremony for China's space day in the eastern city of Nanjing.

China will hold a discussion on building a defense system against near-earth asteroids, a senior space agency official said on Saturday, as the country steps up efforts towards realizing its longer-term space ambitions.

Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, didn't provide any further details in his opening remarks at a ceremony for China's space day in the eastern city of Nanjing. China has made space exploration a top priority in recent years, aiming to establish a program operating thousands of space flights a year and carrying tens of thousands of tonnes of cargo and passengers by 2045.

It signed a memorandum of understanding last month with Russia to set up an international lunar research station. The European space agency last year signed a deal worth 129 million euros ($156.08 million) to make a spacecraft for a joint project with NASA looking at how to deflect an asteroid heading for earth. ($1 = 0.8265 euros)