China is considering establishing a defense system against near-Earth asteroids as the country intensifies efforts to pursue its long-term space ambitions, Reuters reported referring to the head of the China National Space Administration Zhang Kejian.

China has made space exploration a top priority in recent years, aiming to create a program by 2045 to carry out thousands of space flights a year and carry tens of thousands of tons of cargo and passengers.

 Last month, he signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia to establish an international lunar research station.