A space module carrying China's first lunar rover has landed on the moon, state television showed, a major step for the emerging superpower's ambitious space program.
Scientists burst into applause on Saturday as a computer-generated image representing the spacecraft was shown landing on screens at a Beijing control centre, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) showed, 12 days after Chang'e-3 blasted off on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.
The landing marks the latest step in an ambitious space programme which is seen as a symbol of China's rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once impoverished nation.
It comes a decade after the country first sent an astronaut into space, and ahead of plans to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send a human to the moon.
