China plans manned space flight by 2005

China has announced plans to send a man into space by 2005.

It is also hoping eventually to send a man to the moon, saying space exploration will become as essential as electricity.

China will also launch three satellites next year to monitor weather, study oceans and search for resources on earth, the official China Daily newspaper reports.

Senior officials said China's presence in space and its developing space programme will be well-established within three years.

"China has put the plan for developing the industry on the table," the China Daily quoted Sun Laiyan, vice- director of the China National Space Administration, as saying.

The official Xinhua news agency, citing the head of the space administration, said last month the moon probe was part of China's "struggle for a more important place in the world space science field".

"For mankind in the 21st century, space application will become as essential as electricity and oil in the 19th century," the China Daily quoted Liang Sili, a space scientist, as saying.

He said more unmanned tests were needed before a manned launch. "We must be sure that the astronauts are 100% safe in outer space," he told the newspaper.