China's Chang'e-7 mission, scheduled for around 2026, is poised to unlock the Moon's mysteries further, checking if there is evidence of water on the South Pole of the Earth's natural satellite, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of the country's lunar exploration project, in a recent interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Huangshan City, Anhui Province in east China.
Wu, also academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the ambitious mission could revolutionize future lunar exploration.
"Why will we go to the [Moon's] south pole? Some international peers have launched probes and they think the detected results show the presence of water molecules in the atmosphere above the South Pole. If this is true, then it's possible that water exists in the permanently shadowed regions there, likely in the form of ice, as these areas have not been exposed to sunlight for long time. Whether there is water, and how much it is there, are key questions that concern people and the scientists worldwide," explained Wu.
Wu said if China can find direct evidence of water ice, it will be an extraordinary achievement and Chang'e-7 also has the potential to become the world's first spacecraft to land at the lunar South Pole.
"It would create conditions for long-term human presence on the Moon and lay the foundation for humans to embark on deeper space exploration from the Moon, such as journeys to Mars or other celestial bodies," he said.
Following Chang'e-7, China plans to launch Chang'e-8 around 2028 to test in-situ resource utilization technology on the Moon.
By 2030, China aims to realize a manned lunar landing, and by 2035, to establish the core structure of an international lunar research base.
So far, more than 50 countries and international organizations have already signed cooperation agreements with China on this ambitious project.
China's Chang'e-7 mission aims for groundbreaking water discovery on Moon
China will continuously build a robust domestic market to bolster its economy and counter external challenges in accordance with the requirements and arrangement from the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which put domestic demand at the forefront of eight key tasks for next year's economic work, according to experts.
The tone-setting conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday in which the Chinese leadership decided priorities for the economic work in 2026.
Over the past four years, domestic demand has contributed an average of 86.4 percent to China's economic growth, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
"The top priority is to expand domestic demand as the key reason for this is that our demand is relatively weak. The first step here is figuring out how to increase consumption," said Chen Binkai, vice president of Central University of Finance and Economics.
Consumption has continued to play a leading role in the country's economic growth this year. In the first three quarters, final consumption expenditure contributed 53.5 percent to economic growth, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the whole of last year.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference proposed that in 2026, a special campaign to boost consumption will be implemented in depth, the supply of high-quality goods and services will be expanded, policies on new and emerging industries will be optimized, unreasonable restrictions in the consumption field will be eliminated, and the potential of service consumption will be unleashed.
"Previously, much of the consumption we have encouraged is for manufactured goods. However, the growth rate of our service sector is not as ideal as that of the manufacturing sector. Therefore, increasing some investment to encourage consumption in the service sector may play a better role in stabilizing growth and expanding domestic demand," said Huang Qunhui, a researcher of the Institute of Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Experts said that income is the primary factor determining consumption, and only by increasing residents' disposable income, can their consumption capacity be improved.
They also said that the conference, while emphasizing the promotion of consumption, also clearly pointed out the need to formulate and implement a plan to increase the income of urban and rural residents.
"The Third Plenary Session [of the 20th CPC Central Committee] mentioned the need to increase the proportion of residents' income, specifically the proportion of labor compensation within that income. The Fourth Plenary Session [of the 20th CPC Central Committee] further proposed implementing a specific income-increasing plan for urban and rural residents. Of course, consumption is not solely an income issue. We need to strengthen basic public services and improve our social security fund. If these issues are further improved and optimized, and residents have higher incomes, they will be more willing to spend more on consumption, especially on development-oriented consumption," said Huang.
Expanding domestic demand remains top priority for China's economic work in 2026: experts
