During Xi Jinping’s visit in France in March 2019, space authorities from both sides signed an agreement to step up cooperation in space exploration. China will fly French experiments on its Chang’e-6 mission to return samples from the Moon in 2023-24, earth observation missions based on the China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSat) will be extended to ocean salinity and soil moisture, and a China-France project for building a Moon village is under discussion.

CAS news release, March 27, 2019