China's first lunar probe, due to be launched next year to orbit the Moon, will broadcast 30 pieces of Chinese music to Earth, a news report said Friday.

The agency in charge of the probe is seeking public suggestions on the music to be played, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The 30 pieces of music will be selected from a wide range of 152 pieces recommended such as China's National Anthem "The March of the Volunteers", "The East is Red" and "I Love You, China."

Pieces from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao are also included, Xinhua said. 

Participants can vote for their favourite music through China TV Guide or China moon probe website (http://210.82.31.82/index.asp?modelname=index ).  

The selected music will represent China's various characteristics of its 56 ethnic groups, according to Xinhua.

The lunar probe will broadcast the selected music from 380,000 kilometers away from the earth after entering its orbit, reported Xinhua.

The 2,350-kilogram (5,170-pound) probe is to be launched as early as next year to take three-dimensional images of the lunar surface and analyze its materials, Xinhua said.

The probe is part of a multistage effort to land an unmanned probe on the Moon by 2010.

China's first satellite, launched in 1970, broadcast the hymn "The East is Red."

The activity will end on August 9 with the result unveiled in October. 

Approved by the Chinese government in 2004, the lunar program has a budget of 1.4 billion yuan (about 170 million U.S. dollars) as part of the country's three-stage lunar project.

The lunar program, which was named "Chang'e" after the legendary Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, aims to eventually place an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2010.

The lunar satellite is designed to obtain 3D images of the lunar surface, analyze the content of useful elements and materials, and probe the depth of the lunar soil and the space environment between the earth and the moon. It will orbit the moon for one year.