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, DC, 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)