“China to Donate Lunar Samples to Russia and France: Encouraging International Scientific Research”

At the opening ceremony of ‘China Space Day’ in 2023, China’s National Space Administration announced the news that China will donate lunar samples to Russia and France.

This April, during French President Macron’s visit to China, China donated 1.5 grams of lunar samples for scientific use to France. On February 4, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China, China also donated 1.5 grams of lunar samples for scientific use to Russia. In March 2023, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia, Russia also donated 1.5 grams of lunar samples for scientific use to China.

In December 2020, China’s National Space Administration issued the ‘Moon Sample Management Measure’ to encourage research on lunar samples and promote sharing of scientific results. So far, scientists from Australia, Russia, France, the United States, Britain and Sweden have participated in scientific research of Chinese lunar samples.