The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) held a symposium Wednesday in Beijing to mark the 40th anniversary of man's flight into the outer space.

Yury Alekseyevich Gagarin, an astronaut from the former Soviet Union, toured into the outer space in a spacecraft on April 12, 1961, thus becoming the first man ever to enter the outer space.

CPAFFC's President Chen Haosu expressed hope that the occasion will further enhance Sino-Russian friendship and cooperation in the space sector.

Present at the symposium were Russia's ambassador to China Igor Alexeyevich Rogachev and astronautic experts from the two countries, among which was Tokarev Valery, a Russian astronaut who spent 10 days with his colleagues in the international Space Station 350 kilometers away from the earth.

(People's Daily 04/18/2001)