The spirit is embodied in China's great efforts to develop and enhance human spaceflight capabilities, beginning with the country's manned space program in the early 1990s.

President Xi Jinping has underscored the importance of the manned space program on many occasions. "The construction of the space station is a milestone in China's space industry, which will make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity," Xi said when talking with the three astronauts stationed in China's Tianhe core module on June 23, 2021.

Starting from scratch, China's space program is increasingly becoming a source of national pride and a marker of technological expertise in the global community. With the Shenzhou-13 180-day mission accomplished, the country is on the way to assembling and operating a permanent manned space station.

Those successes have not come easily. They are built on Chinese space scientists' dedication to scientific innovation and their relentless work to overcome difficulties. It was through efforts made by generations of Chinese space scientists that this spirit with dedication and technological self-reliance at its core was forged.