Ouyang Ziyuan, a CAS academician and first chief scientist of China's lunar probe project, also believes that the danger from small celestial objects "is worth attention while we are devoted to building a community with a shared future for humanity."

"Scientists around the world should cooperate to monitor near-Earth asteroids," said Ouyang, noting that modern space technologies are capable of defending Earth from their threat.

"We can land a propeller on a potentially hazardous asteroid and with a very small force, push it away from the orbit that crosses Earth's path," Ouyang said.