Shanghai: China, which hopes to establish a space station within the next five years, is busy celebrating its second successful manned space mission.
The top Chinese leadership have stressed that there has been a "landmark progress" of the nation's space technology.
They were speaking after the successful completion of the mission by spacecraft Shenzou-6, which brought the two astronauts - Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng - back from space.
The Shenzou-6 flight that landed early on Monday completed the first stage of China's manned space development plan, which focused on development of space vehicles.
The next stage will focus on developing ways for astronauts to walk in space and the ability to rendezvous and dock with other spacecraft
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was present at the launch on October 12 while Chinese President Hu Jintao talked to the two astronauts on Saturday.
China's second manned space mission comes after the country launched its first mission into space in October 2003, putting the country in an exclusive club that has only two other members - the United States and Russia.
The Communist nation hopes to conduct a space walk in 2007 and might recruit women into its next group of astronaut candidates, director of the China Space Engineering Office, Tang Xianming said.
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