Voices

“Thirty-five years ago today， China and the United States entered into official diplomatic relations. It is fair to say that this historic event in 1979 exerted the greatest strategic impact on international relations in the latter half of the 20th century. It not only opened a new page in the history of China-U.S. relations， but also had a far-reaching impact on the evolving international environment.”

So recalls Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi， in a New Years Day speech commemorating the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations.

He concluded his speech with this upbeat comment： “Looking back， we have made remarkable progress in China-U.S. relations. Looking ahead， we are fully confident in the future of our relations. With China and the United States moving forward together in the direction set by our presidents and taking concrete actions， the great vision of building a new model of majorcountry relations between China and the U.S. can surely be realized.”“Compared with other countries in earlier years， Chinas spending on its lunar program is not a great sum，”

said Wu Weiren， chief designer of the countrys moon probe program. He made the comment at a meeting between media and scientists organized by the China Association for Science and Technology.

According to Wu， in the 1960s and 1970s， the Soviet Union and the U.S. conducted 64 and 54 lunar explorations， respectively， with a success rate of around 40 percent. Chinas Change-1， -2 and -3 have all accomplished their missions as projected. The U.S. forked out roughly 2 to 2.5 percent of its GDP on its lunar program， while China inputs only a few ten-thousandths of its GDP.

Chinas lunar probe program has produced breakthroughs in key technologies of carrier rockets， deep-space communication， remote control， artificial intelligence， robotics， new materials， and new energy. Many of these technologies can be applied in civilian sectors， and play a major role in scientific， national and social development， which could benefit people in the long term.