Delegates to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhu Youyong, Wang Yaping and Wu Dajing (from L to R), attend an interview at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

Foreign astronauts are welcome to work in China's space station, Chinese taikonaut Wang Yaping, also a delegate of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said on Sunday. 

When asked about her expectations for China's aerospace sector during an interview at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the sidelines of the 20th CPC National Congress, Wang said she hopes more young people will join the taikonauts and look that she looks forward to entering the Chinese space station with foreign counterparts to explore the vast universe together.

"We are lucky to have entered a new era. From my first flight in 2013 to my latest flight in 2021, China's manned space program has seen new victories and new heights. During the past decade, we obtained broader platforms in space, achieved longer flight times and built China's own space station. We are proud of our great Party and great motherland," Wang told the press. 

Wang is known as the first female taikonaut to live in China's space station and make spacewalks.

Wang said that she had a dream to fly in space when China's first manned spacecraft -- the Shenzhou-5 -- blasted off, but at that time never dreamed of stepping out of the capsule one day herself, or teaching students about space or firing up their space dreams. Nowadays, the children who listened to her classes have become her peers in aerospace sector, she said. 

Talking about her own profound feelings about aerospace sectpor, Wang mentioned two powers - the power of the era and the power of inheritance. 

Born in 1980 in Shandong Province, Wang became a well-known figure in June 2013 after flying for 15 days on the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft with two male crewmates, Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Global Times