China is willing to join hands with other countries in developing manned space program and make due contributions to the exploration and peaceful use of the space, said a Chinese official in Beijing on Monday.

The success of Shenzhou-6, China's second manned spacecraft carrying two taikonauts which landed early Monday morning, demonstrated that China has grasped the core technology of manned space program and its capability in solving high-tech problems independently, said Tang Xianming, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office, at a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office.

However, China's manned space program still has a lot of heavy tasks to fulfill and a long way to go. The next step of China's manned space program is "to make breakthrough and master the technology to carry out extravehicular activities, rendezvous-docking mission and space scientific and applicable experiment," he said.

"We are willing to join hands together with the other nations at the equal footing, promote the manned space technology for our country to a higher level and make our due contributions to the exploration and peaceful use of the space resources for the mankind," noted Tang.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2005)