CHINA will set up the world's first observation station on the moon in the second phase of its moon project, Ouyang Ziyuan, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said yesterday in Shanghai.

"There is no atmosphere or magnetic field on the moon so telescopes can detect more things," Ouyang said during a public lecture organized by Wenhui Daily. "One night on the moon lasts 14 days on Earth, thus we can conduct long-term observation."

During the second phase, the country will also land a rover on the lunar surface, Ouyang said.

"There must be a Chinese mark on the rover to prove that we have landed, but we won't send a robot to plant a flag," he said.

Lunar probe Chang'e 1 blasted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center on October 24 and sent back its first picture of the moon's surface on November 20.

The photo was released to the public at the National Space Administration in Beijing on November 26.