Shenzhou-19 astronauts return safely to earth

Three Chinese astronauts returned to earth yesterday after six months on the country's space station, state media footage showed, as Beijing advances towards its aim to become a major celestial power.

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China has ploughed billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the country's "space dream".

The world's second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mission to the moon by the end of the decade and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.

Its latest launch last week ferried a trio of astronauts to the Tiangong space station, heralding the start of the Shenzhou-20 mission.

They have taken over from Shenzhou-19 crew Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, whose landing capsule touched down in the northern Inner Mongolia region yesterday.

Xinhua state news agency said the group were in "good health" shortly after touching back down on Earth.