Program's origin began at symposium in Hebei

The origin of China's aspirations to operate its own space station can be traced back to July 1985, when the Ministry of Aerospace Industry－predecessor of the China National Space Administration－arranged the first symposium on the space station in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province.

Space officials, mission planners, scientists and designers discussed various topics including possible responses to the Strategic Defense Initiative－nicknamed the "Star Wars program", which was being pushed by the administration of former US president Ronald Reagan－and the road map for China's space industry.

Ren Xinmin, one of the most influential scientists in the nation's space circle, said at that event that China should and must have its own manned space program and establish its own space station, which would serve as a symbol of true global power. He urged authorities to begin planning and conducting research and development as soon as possible. Otherwise, the gap between China and other space powers would grow even wider.

In March 1986, four distinguished scientists－Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi and Chen Fangyun－wrote a letter to then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, submitting their suggestion that China should invest in strategically important science and technology.

Deng endorsed the suggestion and requested that related central government departments immediately solicit advice and begin research and planning work.

The scientists' proposal became reality in November 1986 as the government launched what later became known as Project 863. The national high-tech project covered seven major fields, ranging from biology to new energy.

The project set two major goals for China's space sector in the coming decades: one was to build large carrier rockets and reusable aerospace vehicles; the other was to construct a space station.

Since then, scientists, designers and engineers from domestic space organizations started making plans for the space station and manned spaceship programs. They had several rounds of discussions and debates on the programs' technological and technical road maps.

In August 1992, a special committee decided that China will use manned spacecraft to assemble a space station in orbit in the near future. The plan was approved in September that year by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, officially debuting the nation's manned space program.

In September 2010, the construction plan for the space station was approved by the government. After that, R&D for the nation's largest and most sophisticated space-based facility officially started.