Profile: Shenzhou X astronaut Zhang Xiaoguang

Zhang Xiaoguang

JIUQUAN - Astronaut Zhang Xiaoguang is a native of Jinzhou City of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Born in May 1966, Zhang is of the Manchu ethnic group.

Zhang joined the Chinese army in June 1985 and became a member of the Communist Party of China in August 1988.

In January 1998, Zhang was trained as one of China's first batch of astronauts and now is a member of the astronaut brigade of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He now holds the rank of a senior colonel.

Before he was trained as an astronaut, Zhang was a senior pilot and has a record of 1,000 hours of safe flying.

He has passed a comprehensive tests for astronauts, which consisted of basic theories, endurance and space engineering.

In April 2013, he was enlisted as a crew member of the Shenzhou X manned spacecraft mission.