Shenzhou-20 astronauts board spaceship ahead of launch

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China

Shenzhou-20 astronauts board spaceship ahead of launch

2025-04-24 15:56 Last Updated At：23:47

The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceflight mission have boarded the spaceship which is slated to be launched from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to the Tiangong space station at 17:17 Thursday (Beijing Time).

Chen Dong, the mission commander, and his crew mates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie got aboard the spaceship with the help of technicians.

The Shenzhou-20 astronauts will complete in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-19 crew and stay at the space station for approximately six months.

During the mission, the new crew will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-9 cargo craft and Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship.

They will undertake a range of tasks, including space science experiments, application tests, extravehicular activities, and cargo handling. Their mission also involves installing protective devices against space debris, and deploying and retrieving extravehicular payloads and equipment.

They will also participate in science education, public outreach, and other onboard experimental activities.

The Shenzhou-19 astronauts are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 29.

China, Brazil renew currency swap agreement

2025-05-14 14:13 Last Updated At：14:37

The central banks of China and Brazil on Tuesday renewed a bilateral currency swap agreement with a total value of 190 billion yuan (about 26.39 billion U.S. dollars), or 157 billion reais.

The agreement is valid for a period of five years and can be renewed upon mutual consent, according to the agreement released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank.

The move will help expand the use of currencies of the two countries, facilitate bilateral trade and investment, and help stabilize the financial markets.

The bilateral currency swap is a financing arrangement in which a country's central bank exchanges its own currency for another country's currency to obtain liquidity in the counterparty's currency. At maturity, the parties exchange back the principal amounts. It is generally used to maintain financial market stability.

By the end of the first quarter of 2025, PBOC had signed bilateral currency swap agreements with the central banks or monetary authorities of 42 countries and regions.

Currently, 32 such agreements remain in effect, covering major economies in key regions across six continents. The total scale of these swap agreements amounts to 4.3 trillion yuan (about 596.70 billion U.S. dollars).