The black-and-white image taken by the Chang'e I satellite, which took off on October 24, was unveiled by Wen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

The image, pieced together from 19 individual shots, showed a section of the moon's surface about 460 kilometres (290 miles) in length and 280 kilometres in width.

"Chinese people's dream of flying to the moon for more than 1,000 years is beginning to materialise," Wen said in a speech carried by a government website.

"It showcases eloquently that the Chinese people have the will, the ambition and the capability to write new splendid chapters while ascending the science and technology summit."

Wen hailed China as one of the few powers capable of conducting a space probe, saying the mission was the third milestone in China's space exploration, after the successes of man-made satellites and manned space flights.

These achievements demonstrate China's rising national strength and innovation capability, and help elevate the country's international status, the premier said.

China's moon probe was launched amid growing signs of an Asian space race also involving Japan and India.

A Japanese probe launched in September has produced colour images of the earth in a video made by the spacecraft's high-definition television camera.

Although Chinese space officials have said repeatedly that they hoped to put a man on the moon around 2020, space agency chief Sun Laiyan told a press conference Monday there was no such plan yet.

"We don't yet have any plan to send a man to the moon ... but I believe China will one day send its own astronaut to the moon and I hope I will see that day," said the head of the China National Space Administration.

But China has built "a strong foundation" for the eventual landing on the moon through this lunar orbiting mission, he said.

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