VIENNA -- The peaceful use of outer space is the common aspiration of people around the world, said Yang Liwei, deputy head of China's Manned Space Engineering Office, on Tuesday.

"China has long set the peaceful use of outer space for the benefits of all mankind as its aim for space development," said Yang in an interview with Xinhua.

Yang, China's first astronaut in the space, was in Vienna to attend the 54th session of United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) on June 1-10.

According to China' s human space flight program, China will launch unmanned space module Tiangong-1 into the space late this year, followed by the spaceship Shenzhou-8, Yang said.

By the the end of this year, the rendezvous and docking of Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 will be achieved, he added.

In 2012, China will send Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft into space and realized their manned or unmanned rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1.

These efforts are designed to make a breakthrough in the technology of mutual dockings of spaceships, Yang noted.

"By 2020, China will have a large space station orbiting the earth," he said.

Yang, however, admitted that currently there are still some problems concerning the peaceful use of outer space and international cooperation.

He believed that the universe belongs to all mankind and international cooperation is a general trend in universe exploration and a consensus of many countries.

Yang also gave an overview of China' s international cooperation on space development.

"China has enormous potential to cooperate with other countries in the field of space development," he said, adding that "China is willing to make positive efforts in this regard."

"Exchange and cooperation between China and other countries have been effective and will be further strengthened in the future," he said.