The former Soviet Union and the United States have been putting people into orbit since the early 1960s, but other nations have not considered the challenge worth following.

　　China has already built and sent up its own satellites for communications and weather forecasting. The new communication satellites would help to encourage the country's broadcasting industry, Hu said.

　　But the company, which includes over 130 aerospace agencies, said the lifting ability and success rate of China's space-launches were almost equal in quality to those of other countries.

　　China would gradually close the distance between its country's space industry and that of other nations. He added that they were willing to send up commercial satellites for Taiwan.

　　On China's plan to send up manned spaceflights, Hu said China had made important development after the successful launch in November last year of the country's first experimental spaceship, Shenzhou. "The whole project is in the research stage and a lot of work needs to be done, " Hu said. "We need to have more tests of the unmanned spaceship."

　　China last year announced a four-step manned spaceflight plan with the aim of setting up a space-station served by a spaceship travelling between two places.

　　60.The underlined word "they" here probably refers to ____________.

　　A. the Soviet Union and the USA

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