Xu Dazhe, on a visit to Hong Kong, said the development of China's own manned spaceflight project had been based on limited resources. From Shenzhou-1 to Shenzhou-6 each spaceflight experiment had been conducted under very different conditions and had accomplished very distinct results.

Xu also said that not all of the costs involved in developing China's manned spaceflight project- possibly as much as 8 to 9 billion yuan - had been for exclusive use for the project.

Xu went on to say that the frequency with which China was now launching satellites was a little higher than in the past, and the facilities used to launch all past satellites have been well preserved, to the credit of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

Many of the facilities in the Beijing Aerospace City are of world class standard, and built within the manned spaceflight project budget, Xu added. So, actual total expenses for researching and launching the spacecrafts have been just over 10 billion yuan, he said. Xu Dazhe concluded by saying that the development of China's manned spaceflight program is closely linked with the country's economic development and growth. Without sufficient economic strength, he said, it is hard to conduct the necessary research aerospace. China though is now one of just three countries capable of sending men into the space. It took China 13 years to reach this level, which proves that China's economic development and overall strength have improved considerably since the launch of its economic reforms.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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