Mr. Chairman,
1. First of all, please allow me to congratulate you on your re-assumption as the chairman of this session of COPUOS. I am confident that under you able guidance, this session will successfully complete its deliberation on all the agenda items.
Mr. Chairman,
2. As we are all aware, Ms. Othman, the director of the Office of Outer Space Affairs, is due to leave her post at the end of this year. The Chinese delegation would like to take this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to her for her hard work at OOSA. Ms. Othman is an outstanding female scientist and activist in the field of outer space, has twice served as the director of OOSA and has carried out her duty with distinction in that she has not only led the Secretariat in providing comprehensive assistance to the work of COPUOS, but has also implemented more actively the various activities of UNISPACE III and COPUOS by conducting multiple space technology trainings and application projects and assisting developing countries in using space technology to promote economic and social development, which have contributed significantly to the peaceful use of outer space. Here we would like to extend our best wishes to her and hope that she will continue to play an active role for outer space development after she leaves her office.
3. The exploration of outer space constitutes a relentless pursuit of mankind and space flight by female astronauts represents a groundbreaking and landmark historical event. The Chinese delegation is pleased to see that the current COPUOS session will hold events to mark the 50th anniversary of the first space flight by a female astronaut. China's first female astronaut Ms. Liu Yang has been invited to attend these events along with prominent women in the space field from other countries and she will share with us her personal experience during her first space flight last year.
4. ( Here I am also very honored to inform everyone present that yesterday China successfully launched into space its Shenzhou No. 10 spacecraft with three taikonauts on board, including China's second female astronaut Ms. Wang Yaping. They are going to perform manned space rendezvous and docking mission with Tiangong No. 1 target spacecraft, representing yet another great pioneering feat in the human exploration of outer space.) As a member of COPUOS and a large developing space-faring nation, China wishes to see the dream of more female astronauts come true in space and their efforts actively utilized to expand space exploration by mankind.
Mr. Chairman,
5. The Chinese government has always maintained that the exploration and use of outer space should be conducted for the benefit of the whole mankind and that international space exchanges and cooperation should be strengthened and outer space activities promoted on the basis of equality and mutual benefits, peaceful use and common development so that the outer space activities can truly benefit all countries with the benefits derived from space technology innovation and application maximized and covering the entire spectrum of groups of people. Over the past year, the Chinese Government, in keeping with the above mentioned norms and principles, has comprehensively promote the cooperation with various agencies such as the UN-SPIDER office in Beijing and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization in an effort to provide joint personnel training, capacity building, data sharing and technical services with a view to achieving mutual benefits and win-win results by sharing benefits.
6. I'm pleased to inform everyone here that from 16th to 20th September this year, China will co-sponsor with UN a workshop on manned space flight initiative in Beijing to promote the application of manned space flight technology. From 23rd to 27th September, the 64th International Astronautical Congress will be held in Beijing in conjunction with important events such as the meetings of the Steering Group of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) and the World Space Week. We sincerely welcome all the national space agencies to attend these events with a view to holding joint discussions on the new developments in outer space and on how to jointly meet challenges in the field of space exploration.
Mr. Chairman,
7. In the report of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee session this year, China's proposal to establish a UN Aisa-Pacific regional centre for space science and technology educationat Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics was acknowledged and welcomed. China is in the process of actively promoting the preparatory work for the center. China will work with all the interested countries in an effort to build this center into a new platform for international space cooperation.
Mr. Chairman,
8. The long-term sustainability of outer space activities is an issue commanding focused attention by all countries in the field of outer space right now. China has always attached great importance to and actively participated in the relevant work. We welcome the issue "space and sustainable development" being made a separate agenda item for this session and hope that all countries will under that agenda item jointly explore how space technology can be utilized to promote the sustainable economic and social development. China believes that the sustainable development of outer space should be fair and harmonious and should bring about common and inclusive development in accordance with law so as to truly realize space benefit sharing for all.
Mr. Chairman,
9. Space security concerns world peace, development and prosperity. The Chinese government has always been committed to the peaceful use of outer space and opposes outer space weaponization and arms race. China believes that appropriate and feasible outer space transparency and confidence-building measures will have positive significance in enhancing mutual trust, reducing misjudgement and maintaining security in outer space. China has fully participated in the work of the UN Governmental Expert Group on Transparency and Confidence-building Measures for Space Activities and has also maintained active communications with the initiator and other involved parties on the drafting of an International Code of Conduct for Space Activities in the hope that the above mentioned process can serve as a valuable supplement to the efforts in preventing space weaponization and arms race. The Chinese government will continue to strengthen cooperation with all parties in a joint effort to maintain an outer space with common security.
Mr. Chairman,
10. The exploration and use of outer space is the common cause for all our countries. The Chinese government is willing to join the international community in continuously strengthening space capabilities, improving the level of space research, actively promoting space technology applications, and vigorously pushing ahead space development for the benefit of national economic development and social progress and to work tirelessly for an outer space with peace, development, cooperation and rule of law.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.