New Delhi, Dec.12: Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged Wednesday that China would adhere to the principle of peaceful development and use of outer space in concerted efforts with other nations.

At a grand ceremony in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the success of China's first lunar probe Chang'e I, Hu reiterated that peaceful use of outer space was a shared cause of the mankind and accords with the common interests of the mankind.

"China's deep space exploration aims solely for peaceful purposes," he said.

China will actively participate in international space cooperation, continue to make breakthroughs in deep space exploration and try hard to make more, new contributions to technical progress and to the sublime cause of the peace and development of the mankind, Xinhua news agency further quoted him, as saying.

He said the success of the first stage of China's lunar probe program indicated the nation had joined countries with capability of deep space exploration.

The development of the nation's scientific and technological strength must be based on economic development, Hu said.

Only when development is regarded as the primary task of the Party in its ruling efforts, will new achievements be made in the development process and will the gap between China and world's advanced standards be narrowed, he concluded. (ANI)