China to Establish Manned Space Station Around 2020

China will establish a manned space station around 2020, the country's manned space program spokeswoman said Thursday.

Spokeswoman Wu Ping said at a press conference that China's spacecraft will conduct two more space docking missions in 2012. After that, the nation will begin to build a space lab and space station.

China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 and its space lab module Tiangong-1 rendezvoused early Thursday, successfully completing the country's first-ever space docking.

Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, speaks during a press conference about the first docking of China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 and its space lab module Tiangong-1, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 3, 2011. [Xinhua]