China's first astronaut Yang Liwei walked out of the re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou 5 (Divine Vessel V) spaceship, smiling and waving to the recovery team Thursday morning in the grasslands in Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, state television pictures showed.

Yang waves to recovery teams after walking out of the return capsule. [Xinhua]

Yang has spent 21 hours in outer space, traveling more than 600,000 kilometres in the earth's orbit before Shenzhou 5 brought him back at 6:07 am Thursday morning Beijing time. Yang said he feels excellent after the 21-hour journey, the first by a Chinese.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said in a congratulation message Thursday morning that China's first manned spaceflight has been a "complete success", which shall be written into the history of China's space program development.

After Yang went out of the capsule, physicians immediately conducted a physical check-up of Yang, which found him in good conditions. At around 7:40am, Yang was ferried by a military helicopter to Beijing, where a gala celebration party will be held.

At about 6:00am Thursday, guided by the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, the return capsule of Shenzhou 5 entered China's air space. Several minutes later, the capsule landed safely in Northwest China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Yang reported "conditions good".

Five rescue helicopters raced towards the capsule and found it at 6:36 am. They said Yang felt good and the conditions with the capsule also seemed normal.

At 6:51, Yang Liwei went out of the capsule on himself, waving and smiling to rescuers and reporters.

Li Jinai, chief commander of China's space program, said that, the actual landing site is 4.8 kilometers from the designed site, but the conditions of the return capsule are good and Yang could walk out of the capsule on himself. All these marked the complete success of the manned flight.

*** Spacecraft blasts off into space

The Shenzhou V blasted off into space at 9:00am Wednesday morning in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province, making China the third country in the world to send a person in the orbit after the former Soviet Union and the U.S.

Minutes after the launch, the craft carried 38-year-old Yang, an air force pilot since 1983, into the orbit at 9:10.

"I feel good," Yang radioed back from space after a half-hour in flight in the earth's orbit, his face vividly seen on the watch big screen in the Beijing Control Centre, located in Haidian District, northwestern Beijing. Yang's report drew loud applause.

General Li Jinai, commander of the country's manned space program, was quoted by CCTV as saying the spacecraft was operating normally in orbit.

President Hu Jintao watched the launch at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gansu Province.

Hu called the launch "the glory of our great motherland and a mark for the initial victory of the country's first manned space flight and for the significant, historic step of the Chinese people in the advance of climbing over the peak of the world's science and technology."

He said that:" The Party and the people will never forget those who have set up the outstanding merit in the space industry for the motherland,the people and the nation."

Hu and Vice-Premier Huang Ju flew to Jiuquan Tuesday afternoon after the third plenum of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee concluded Tuesday morning in Beijing. Premier Wen Jiabao, Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and other top Chinese leaders watched the event at the Beijing control center.

Yang's clothing in flight consisted of 14 layers that took 15 minutes to don with the help of technicians, the general commander of the astronaut program, Su Shuangning, told Phoenix Television. Yang's space suit cost more than $12 million, Su said.

The menu for his flight included freeze-dried shredded pork with garlic sauce and fried rice, and he brought along a sleeping bag for naps, CCTV said.