“China is expected to complete its first exploration (探索) of the moon in 2010 and will found a moon base just as we did on the North and South Poles,” Ouyang Ziyuan, head of China's moon exploration program, promised during national science and techno

 "China is expected to complete its first exploration (探索) of the moon in 2010 and will found a moon base just as we did on the North and South Poles," Ouyang Ziyuan, head of China's moon exploration program, promised during national science and technology week.

After its first man in space, China plans a space laboratory, a lunar orbiter to look for valuable elements and minerals, robot landings on the moon and then the human touchdown.

The price of space exploration is enormous. Russia and the US, the only two countries to have achieved manned flight, are struggling to keep their new investment, the international space station.

But China, which has a long tradition in physics, mathematics and engineering, finds its doctoral graduates welcomed in the US and Europe for decades. And it has been able to learn from 40 years of pioneering successes and mistakes by the USSR and the USA.

Space flight is a gamble and the stakes (赌注) are high. If successful, China could become a member of the world's most exclusive club, set up a second home on the moon and get a powerful hand at the strategic bargaining table.

Two designers from the Shenzhou III project said that 12 astronauts now are undergoing intensive training. One more unmanned space flight is planned before the first manned launch.

Experts say that the Shenzhou spacecraft already provides China with a space vehicle capable of mounting（发起）a lunar program. Chinese scientists have also predicted that Mars will be the next target after the moon.