Europeans first to train here for space

Two Europeans became the first foreign astronauts to take part in space-related training in China by completing a 17-day sea survival course.

Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy and Matthias Maurer of Germany, both from the European Space Agency, joined 16 Chinese astronauts in waters off the coastal city of Yantai, Shandong province. The training concluded on Monday.

The course was organized by the China Manned Space Agency in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport's Beihai Rescue Bureau. An astronaut sea survival training base in a suburb of Yantai was put into use shortly before the session.