“Having learned the news of the complete success of the Chang'e-5 mission, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Council, I sincerely congratulate you and convey my sincere greetings.
The Chang'e-5 mission was the most difficult for our country, for the first time we completed the task of delivering samples from another celestial body, "RIA Novosti quotes Xi Jinping.
According to him, "This huge achievement of the new government system marks a big step forward for China's astronautics."
On December 13, Chang'e-5 began its return to Earth phase.
On December 16, it was reported that a capsule of the Chinese Chang'e-5 reentry vehicle with lunar soil samples landed in China 23 days after the start of the mission.
The landing of the Chinese apparatus took place on December 1. Roscosmos noted that this event is historic for the PRC space program.