… As China releases new lunar sample data online***

An article by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on the modernisation of agriculture and rural areas will be published on Thursday.

The article by Xi, also the Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, would be published in this year’s sixth issue of the Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.

In his article, Xi called for sound efforts in promoting the modernisation of agriculture and rural areas, with the goal of building up the country’s strength in agriculture.

During this process, ensuring stable and safe supplies of grain and other important agricultural products is always the top priority, the article said.

It added that advancing rural revitalisation across the board is an important task.

Also, the article stressed that building up the country’s strength in agriculture needed to rely on science and technology and reform as its main driving forces.

The article further underlined the importance of advancing the modernisation of the country’s rural areas.

It stressed the Party’s overall leadership over relevant work and urged solid and down-to-earth work in realising the goal. 

In another development, China’s space agency has published the online database of the sixth batch of lunar samples brought back by the Chang’e-5 probe.

Researchers and the public can access the Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Scientific Data and Sample Release System via the
website — www.clep.org.cn.

Here they can apply for data and samples, according to the China National Space Administration.

The Chang’e-5 probe, which returned to Earth on Dec. 17, 2020, retrieved a total of 1,731 grammes of lunar samples, mainly rocks and soil from the lunar surface.

– Xinhua