The first meeting of the China-U.S. Civil Space Dialogue was convened on 28 September, 2015, in Beijng, China. The convening of this first Civil Space Dialogue launches a new initiative to enhance cooperation between the two countries and provide better transparency on a variety of space related issues and marks the formal establishment of the China-U.S. Civil Space Cooperation Dialogue Mechanism, which will be of significance to promote the space cooperation under the "equitable and mutually acceptable" principle between China and U.S. .

The Meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Tian Yulong, Secretary-General of China National Space Administration for China and Mr. Jonathan Margolis, deputy Assitant Secretary for Science, Space and Health, Department of State for U.S..

At the first meeting, Chinese and U.S. officials exchanged information on respective space policies. They conducted discussions on further collaboration related to space debris and the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. Both sides summarized information on national plans related to space exploration and discussed the next multilateral meeting of the International Space Exploration Forum. The two sides discussed ways to cooperate further on civil Earth observation activities,space sciences, space weather, and civil Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). 

Both nations confirmed the importance of the Civil Space Dialogue, and reaffirmed that this Dialogue would strengthen cooperative relations between the two countries and advance the space cooperation outcomes of the Strategic Track of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

The first meeting was convened in the Strategic Track of the China-U.S.  Strategic and Economic Dialogue in June 2015, Both sides agreed to hold the second meeting of the Dialogue in Washington, D.C. in 2016.