An innovative society

Editor's note: China's ancient wisdom informs its contemporary leadership. In this series, China Daily explores how age-old principles and philosophies continue to steer the country's governance.

At around 7:30 am on Nov 30, after around two hours of preparatory work, Major General Fei Junlong, the Shenzhou XV mission commander, opened the hatch of his spaceship and floated into the Tiangong station's connection cabin.

"Welcome! Let's hug," Senior Colonel Chen Dong, leader of the Shenzhou XIV crew, said to Fei. Following Fei, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu moved into the connection cabin and were welcomed by Chen.

The Shenzhou XV trio met the three Shenzhou XIV astronauts in the Wentian lab module and embraced one another. The six Chinese astronauts gathering in the Tiangong station marked a historic moment — the first in-orbit gathering of two Chinese crews.

The two crews stayed together for five days aboard the space station in an orbit about 400 kilometers above Earth. From now on, the in-orbit rotation will become routine as the space station is put into formal operation.

Weighing nearly 100 metric tons, the Tiangong space station is one of the largest space-based structures mankind has ever built and deployed in outer space, which consists of the Tianhe core module, the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules and Shenzhou XV spacecraft, as well as the Tianzhou 5 cargo ship.

According to Ji Qiming, assistant director of the China Manned Space Agency, the Shenzhou XV crew will stay aboard the Tiangong space station for six months and is scheduled to return to Earth in May. During its time in orbit, the crew will carry out three to four spacewalks and conduct over 40 scientific experiments and technological demonstrations.

Ji said at a news conference in late November at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China that the agency is doing preparatory work for the training of foreign astronauts to fly missions to the Tiangong space station.

"Currently, multiple space science programs that we have selected, together with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the European Space Agency, are proceeding well according to schedule. We will start sending their equipment to our space station in 2023," Ji explains.

Over the past 19 years, China's endeavors in space have progressed from its first manned, single-astronaut mission aboard Shenzhou V, to the long-term orbital sojourn of multiple astronauts.

Alongside China's accelerated space progress, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee has placed science, technology and innovation at the center of national development, regarding innovation as the primary driving force for development, and made holistic and long-term plans for scientific and technological development in the country.

Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, said at a news conference in June that China's position and role in the global innovation landscape has undergone new changes, and China is not only an important participant in cutting-edge international innovation, but also a significant contributor to the resolution of global issues.

"Over the past decade, China's sci-tech cause has experienced major historic, holistic and structural changes, turning the country into a nation of innovators and helping it blaze a development path that transitions from strong talent and sci-tech capabilities to strong industries, economy and state," Wang says.