European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani signed an agreement on Space Cooperation with the Minister of Science and Technology of China, Wan Gang
On 20 September European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, signed with the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Wan Gang, an agreement to improve cooperation in space between the EU and China.
Europe and China are respectively developing a satellite navigation system, Galileo and Beidou. With today's agreement, the EU and China are committed to propose ways to improve the compatibility and the interoperability of the two systems to provide better service for the users around the world.
Science and space technology have a key role to promote growth, competitiveness and innovation in the Chinese and European economies, resulting in strong potential to create new jobs.
After signing the agreement, Vice President Tajani said: "This agreement will further develop strategic space cooperation between Europe and China, with mutual benefits for citizens and enterprises."
The cooperation agreement on satellite navigation belongs to a broader context of EU-China cooperation in space. On 14 August 2012, the Commission and the European Space Agency signed with the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of the Republic of China, Cao Jianlin, an agreement for Dialogue on Space Technology Cooperation. This cooperation covers various areas including earth observation and earth science, global navigation satellite systems, space exploration and space technology development. The signatories committed to identify potential projects to strengthen cooperation in these areas.
