On the afternoon of September 21, Dr. Ma Xingrui, Administrator of China National Space Administration (CNSA), met with Mr. Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of European Space Agency (ESA). Both parties made deep exchanges on China-Europe space cooperation, and explored the related matters on the joint Mars exploration.

Ma pointed out that since the second meeting of the China-Europe Joint Commission on Space Cooperation, both parties have made extensive exchanges and communications in many areas, which have achieved good progress. Ma hoped to further strengthen the cooperation in such areas as deep space exploration and Earth observation. Dordain indicated that international cooperation is the trend of future space development, and ESA is willing to positively cooperate with China in the field of space and promote the cooperation in Mars exploration.

The related personnel from the Department of System Engineering, Lunar exploration and Space Engineering Center, and Earth Observation and Data Center under CNSA as well as China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) attended the meeting.