- News>
- World
China to invest 200 million Euros in EU`s Galileo programme
Beijing, Oct 28: China will invest 200 million euros (236 million U.S. dollars) in the development of the European Union`s ``Galileo`` satellite navigation system over the next three years, an EU official said.
Beijing, Oct 28: China will invest 200 million euros (236 million U.S. dollars) in the development of the European Union's ''Galileo'' satellite navigation system over the next three years, an EU official said.
The sum will form a ''substantial contribution'' to the total Galileo budget of 3 billion euros in the period, Klaus Ebermann, head of the EU delegation in China, told reporters yesterday.
The two sides plan to sign a formal agreement on China joining the programme on Thursday, during an EU-China summit in Beijing.
The EU side, which will be led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is expected to discuss issues including trade, China's currency exchange policy, West Asia, Iraq and North Korea, Ebermann said.
Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council. Ebermann said the EU also expects to discuss China's call for the lifting of an arms embargo imposed after the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protestors in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
But he said the lifting of the embargo was unlikely in the near future as it is ''up to the (EU) member states to decide''.
So far there is ''no unanimity'' among EU members, and the arms embargo is ''very much a question linked to human rights and public opinion'', he said.
As well as the agreement on cooperation in the Galileo programme, China and the EU plan to sign two agreements on industrial policy dialogue and measures to allow easier access to Europe for Chinese tourists, Ebermann said.
The agreement on Galileo covers cooperation on satellite navigation and timing in several sectors. The two sides have already opened a technical training centre for Galileo in Beijing.
The EU sees Galileo, developed with the European space agency, as a rival to the GPS (Global Positioning System) developed by the United States.
It is designed to be operational by 2008 and could spur a ''technological revolution similar to the one sparked off by mobile phones'', the EU said.
The project is expected to generate thousands of jobs in Europe. But Ebermann said it was too early to say if Chinese long march rockets, used to launch China's first manned space flight on October 15, would be used for Galileo satellites.
Bureau Report
The sum will form a ''substantial contribution'' to the total Galileo budget of 3 billion euros in the period, Klaus Ebermann, head of the EU delegation in China, told reporters yesterday.
The two sides plan to sign a formal agreement on China joining the programme on Thursday, during an EU-China summit in Beijing.
The EU side, which will be led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is expected to discuss issues including trade, China's currency exchange policy, West Asia, Iraq and North Korea, Ebermann said.
Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council. Ebermann said the EU also expects to discuss China's call for the lifting of an arms embargo imposed after the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protestors in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
But he said the lifting of the embargo was unlikely in the near future as it is ''up to the (EU) member states to decide''.
So far there is ''no unanimity'' among EU members, and the arms embargo is ''very much a question linked to human rights and public opinion'', he said.
As well as the agreement on cooperation in the Galileo programme, China and the EU plan to sign two agreements on industrial policy dialogue and measures to allow easier access to Europe for Chinese tourists, Ebermann said.
The agreement on Galileo covers cooperation on satellite navigation and timing in several sectors. The two sides have already opened a technical training centre for Galileo in Beijing.
The EU sees Galileo, developed with the European space agency, as a rival to the GPS (Global Positioning System) developed by the United States.
It is designed to be operational by 2008 and could spur a ''technological revolution similar to the one sparked off by mobile phones'', the EU said.
The project is expected to generate thousands of jobs in Europe. But Ebermann said it was too early to say if Chinese long march rockets, used to launch China's first manned space flight on October 15, would be used for Galileo satellites.
Bureau Report