People's Daily, China's leading newspaper, carried an editorial Monday celebrating the "complete success" of China's second manned space flight.

The editorial, titled Great Milestone of Scientific Exploration -- Congratulations on Complete Success of China's Shenzhou VI Space Mission", said that the successful flight of Shenzhou VI, following the first manned flight of Shenzhou V in 2003, once again demonstrates that the Chinese people have the resolve, confidence and ability to climb up scientific heights one after another.

Shenzhou VI spacecraft landed safely in north China's Inner Mongolian grasslands early Monday morning after a five-day flight with two taikonauts on board.

According to the editorial, the successful mission of Shenzhou VI mission represents a significant progress in China's space exploration and a great milestone in hi-tech development, which all Chinese feel proud of.

Under generations of the Chinese government and Communist Party leadership, china's manned space program has made great breakthrough in "greatly promoting China's economic, scientific, national defense strength and national cohesiveness".

It stressed that China carries out space-based scientific and technological experiments out of purely peaceful purposes and such experiments are contributions to human science and peace cause.

"China is ready to work together with the world to make peaceful use of space resources and will as always stick to the right direction of peaceful tapping of the outer space," the editorial said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2005)