The chairman meeting of Space Cooperation Sub-Commission to the Sino-Brazilian High-level Coordination Commission was held in Beijing on March 23, 2006. Mr. Sun Laiyan, the Chinese chairman of the Space Cooperation Sub-Commission and Administrator of China National Space Administration (CNSA), hosted the meeting. The Brazilian delegation, headed by Vice Minister of Science and Technology, were present at the meeting.

China and Brazil established coordination mechanism in two levels at the early beginning of the cooperation. Space Cooperation Sub-Commission is responsible for governmental coordination. With its guidance and supervision, the Joint Project Committee (JPC) is in charge of the implementation of China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites (CBERS) program.

During the meeting, Mr. Yunan Jiajun, President of China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the Chinese Chairman of CBERS JPC, and Mr. Gilberto Camara Neto, Director General of INPE and the Brazilian Chairman of CBERS JPC, separately reported to the chairmen of the Space Cooperation Sub-Commission of both sides about the progress of CBERS program and the results of the second meeting of JPC which took place two days ago.

The chairmen of the Space Cooperation Sub-Commission of both sides were content with openness, friendship and mutual trust between the two sides during the cooperation with which they firmly believed that the engineers and scientists of the two countries could face and overcome any difficulties during the cooperation. They also stressed that the governments of the two countries would greatly support the cooperation as always. Both parties thought that CBERS data has played an important role in national economy both in China and in Brazil.

In addition, both sides discussed other potential cooperation in space science and space technology except CBERS program as well.

It has been 18years for the space cooperation between China and Brazil since the two countries signed PROTOCOL ON APPROVAL OF RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION OF THE EARTH RESOURCES SATELLITE BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL on July 6, 1988. With the support of the two governments and the remitting efforts by the scientists, engineers and technicians of the two countries, two CBERS satellites—CBERS-1 & 2 have been put into orbit by China-made launch vehicles. CBERS-1 was integrated in China while CBERS-2 was integrated in Brazil.

The data provided by the CBERS satellites is of great importance to the economy construction in the two countries. User communities of CBERS were established and the users are very satisfied with the quality of CBERS products.

The two countries have worked out a complete data policy not only to meet the requirement fo domestic users but also to promote the use of CBERS data in other countries. Many countries have asked to receive CBERS data, which is the recognition of the quality of the joint work done by the Chinese and Brazilian experts.

CBERS is currently the only operational remote sensing program to cover the whole land surface of the earth and to has a data policy based on public good. In the coming years, CBERS will be a major initiative in peaceful using space.

CBERS-2 is now operation beyond its designed lifespan. In this case, China and Brazil signed a agreement concerning the cooperation on CBERS-3 & 4 in September 2000 so as to ensure the long-term cooperation between the two countries. Meanwhile, both countries agreed to jointly develop and launch CBERS-2B before CBERS-3 in order to ensure the continuity of CBERS data. The protocol on the joint development of CBERS-2B and the complementary protocol on the cooperation of the CBERS application system were signed during the Chinese President's official visit to Brazil in November 2004.

The chairman meeting of Space Cooperation Sub-Commission defined the schedule for the development and launch of CBERS-2B and extended the cooperation between the two countries to the new area. After the meeting, the signing ceremony for the Minutes of 2nd CBERS JPC Meeting was held. Mr. Yuan Jiajun and Mr. Gilberto Camara Neto signed the Minutes respectively on behalf of the Chinese delegation and the Brazilian delegation.

It was also reported that the 2nd meeting of CBERS JPC was held at the headquarter of CAST in Beijing on March 21-22.

The two parties are satisfied with the result of the cooperation on CBERS between China and Brazil and agreed that CBERS data has become a very importance data source in the world. The group discussions on the development, launch service and TT&C of CBERS-2B were held. The joint development of the application system for CBERS-2B was also included in the discussion.