(Yicai Global) March 11 -- China plans to host a manned mission to the south pole of the moon, which may expose fossil evidence of the earliest forms of life in the solar system, in the next decade. The nation's space program also intends to go to Mars in 2020.

China will lead a project with other nations to build a research station in the lunar south pole in about 10 years, Beijing News reported, citing Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Chinese lunar exploration program and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The pole is special due to its ice water-filled craters where sunlight does not reach. Wu was speaking at the ongoing top-level political conference of Two Sessions.

China will launch its first Mars exploration project next year, Wu said, adding that Chang'e-5 probe will return with lunar samples this year. 

Change'e-4 spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon in January, which is a major breakthrough, Wu said. Other of the nation's global firsts include producing a full moon map in as high resolution as seven meters, a long-term exploration project of the L2 Lagrangian point, and drilling that went 200 meters below the surface of the moon, according to Wu. 

China's lunar exploration program adheres to the basic principles of peaceful use and win-win cooperation, while sharing some of the resources with other countries, Wu added. 

Editor: Emmi Laine