Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said on March 3 that China will launch its first Mars probe next year.

A member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wu said prior to the opening of the country's top political advisory body's second session that it is China's consistent policy to undertake its space program only for scientific and technological progress, and to exploit space resources for peaceful purposes.

Born in southwest China's Sichuan Province in 1953, Wu received a bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1978 and a PhD from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2004. He has served as chief designer of China's lunar exploration program at the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense since 2008 and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2015.