China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo craft successfully delivers supplies to space station

China's cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-8 has successfully delivered supplies to the orbiting Tiangong space station.

The Long March-7 Y9 rocket carrying the spacecraft blasted off at 23:13 Beijing Time (1513 GMT) on Friday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan.

After about 10 minutes, the Tianzhou-8 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. Its solar panels then unfolded.

"Overcoming various unfavorable factors, our team has achieved complete success in this mission, reflecting our rich experience and the capabilities of the equipment, facilities and personnel of the launch site for all missions," said Zhang Nan, commander of the launch mission.

At 02:32 Beijing Time (18:32 GMT) on Saturday, about three hours after the launch, the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft autonomously docked at the rear docking port of the space station's core module Tianhe.

"Rendezvous and docking three hours after launch is faster, convenient and safer compared with other approaches. So it will be the main rendezvous approach for future cargo craft missions. The Tianzhou-8 has a much larger loading capacity than Tianzhou-7. It mainly transports some time-sensitive cargo that can provide strong technical support for the orbiting space station's scientific experiments," said Feng Yong from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Friday's launch is the third cargo delivery mission since China's manned space program entered the space station's application and development stage.

The Tianzhou-8 spacecraft carried approximately six tons of supplies, including living necessities for astronauts, propellant, and 485 kilograms of scientific experiment materials.

Notably, the 'lunar soil brick', created by Chinese scientists to simulate the composition of lunar soil, is also aboard Tianzhou-8 for space exposure experiments aimed at confirming whether the 'brick' can be used to construct houses on the moon.

There is also a unique species -- fruit flies -- among the scientific experiment payloads carried by Tianzhou-8. They are expected to help complete the country's first space sub-magnetic-microgravity composite environment science experiment.

Afterwards, the Shenzhou-19 crew, which was sent into the space station on October 30, will enter the cargo craft and transfer the items as scheduled.

China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo craft successfully delivers supplies to space station

China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo craft successfully delivers supplies to space station

China has intensified efforts to streamline payment options for foreign visitors this year, aimed at enhancing their travel experience and boost inbound tourism, which has seen steady growth in recent years.

From January to November, the number of foreign arrivals in China surged by 86.2 percent year on year, reaching 29.2 million.

This influx of tourists has been accompanied by a significant rise in the use of foreign payment methods.

In the first half of this year alone, transaction volumes of foreigners using overseas wallet apps to pay for goods and services in China increased more than sevenfold, according to data from NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, a Chinese online payment clearing house under the People's Bank of China.

During the same period, the number of foreign wallet transactions in China hit 28.75 million, up 5.29 times from the previous year. Meanwhile, transaction volume reached 5.32 billion yuan (about 729 million U.S. dollars), a 7.67-fold increase from last year's figures.

Overseas bank cards are now widely accepted across China, and Chinese mobile payment giants Alipay and WeChat Pay have integrated Visa and Mastercard, allowing foreign visitors to pay seamlessly like locals. "We managed to link our two credit cards to Alipay, and everything worked fine. We looked on the Internet, there are some blogs that explain how to create your Alipay account and how to link your credit card. We only paid with the QR code, almost did not use cash," said a foreign visitor.

"Our collaboration with Alipay and WeChat, is just the first start. Really what it enabled is our global network, our global consumer base, and our global partner network with all the financial institutions. And also another good example is we just announced in September that the Beijing subway can accept direct Mastercard payment. So, as an inbound traveler to Beijing, for them to take subway, they just need to tap their Mastercard at the gate and they can enter the subway," said Dennis Chang, president of Mastercard Greater China.

In September, Beijing's subway system launched a service allowing passengers to tap their Mastercard or Visa card at the gate, eliminating the need for physical tickets.

Since Sept 13, a total of 490 stations across the city's subway network have adopted this new system, further improving convenience for foreign visitors.

China expands payment options for int'l inbound tourists