China moves to help Bolivia launch satellite

BEIJING - China and Bolivia took further steps on Wednesday toward launching a telecommunications satellite for the South American country.

Speaking in Beijing that day, Ivan Zambrana, executive general director of the Bolivian Space Agency, told China Daily that China will provide Bolivia with a group of services related to a telecom satellite. Those will include help in building and launching the satellite; in building a monitoring station and in training Bolivian workers to operate the device. The services will cost the Bolivian government about $294 million.

"If we had signed satellite contracts with developed Western countries, it would have cost at least $350 million for the whole project," Zambrana said.