China Academy of Space Technology put forward a plan to send a probe to Mars at the Third China Space Technology Forum in Beijing on October 21.

The earliest that China will be able to launch a probe to Mars is November in 2013, as one to two years of exploration will need to be carried out, said forum participant Huang Jiangchuan, also chief designer of Chang'e 2 lunar satellite.

It is inevitable that China will pursue space explorations on Mars in order to close the gap of space technology between China and other countries, Huang said.

(China Daily October 22, 2010)