BEIJING - China will begin monitoring space debris and small near-Earth celestial bodies and collision pre-warning work in the next five years, according to a white paper published Thursday.

China will continue to strengthen its work on space debris monitoring and mitigation and its work on spacecraft protection, said the white paper titled "China's Space Activities in 2011" issued by the State Council Information Office.

It will set up a design and assess system of space debris mitigation, and take measures to reduce space debris left by post-task spacecraft and launch vehicles, the white paper says.

It will also experiment with digital simulation of space debris collisions, and build a system to protect spacecraft from space debris.