A Chinese spacecraft has successfully landed on the surface of Mars, making China the second country after the United States to do so.

Tyven-1 landed a rover on the icy part of Mars known as the Utopia Planetia and became the first Chinese spacecraft on the Red Planet, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

On this occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated all those involved in this historic mission. The rover Jurong, named after the old god of fire, took more than 17 minutes to disassemble its solar panels and antenna and send signals to control the earth for more than 320 million kilometers, and its task is to study the soil and atmosphere of the planet.

China became the third country, after the Soviet Union and the United States, to land a rover on Mars