Leaders salute launch of Sino-French space satellite

President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulations with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday on China's successful launch of an ocean-observing satellite jointly developed by the two countries as part of their space cooperation.

The China-France Oceanography Satellite, atop a Long March 2C carrier rocket, took off at 8:43 am Monday from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province and entered a sun-synchronous orbit 520 kilometers above Earth.

Xi said in his congratulatory message to Macron that space cooperation is an important part of the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership.