Chinese experiments to be carried out on space station

A Chinese university will send scientific equipment to the International Space Station in collaboration with a private company in the United States, a move that will help explore opportunities for space cooperation between China and the US, a senior Chinese scientist said.

Direct deals between US government entities and China are prohibited by US law, but the latest proposal teams up with private businesses.

"This project underwent a succession of prudent discussions and careful deliberations before we reached the agreement. The US company NanoRacks will send our equipment to the International Space Station to conduct experiments on the space environment's impact on genes. The results will answer some very important questions on life sciences," Deng Yulin, dean of the Beijing Institute of Technology's School of Life Science, said on Friday.