Landing on moon the next target

A manned lunar landing is China's next target when the current three-stage space program expires in 2020.

"When the three-phased strategy in our manned space program is completed, we will travel even further terrestrially," Wang Zhaoyao, deputy head of China's manned space program office and Shenzhou VII mission spokesman, told a briefing in Beijing three hours after China's third manned space mission successfully concluded yesterday.

"After comprehensively analyzing the general trend in international manned space developments, as well as Chinese realities, we see a manned lunar landing as both a very challenging and tactical field in global hi-tech," he said.