Distinguished scientist Lu Yuanjiu, 101, has urged China's scientists, researchers, engineers and technicians to keep their missions in mind and make full use of their talents to contribute to the motherland and its people.

"People in my generation studied under enemy bombing and built our country from ruins and rubble," he said at his home in Beijing recently.

"My comrades and I spent our youth on sending our nation's rockets and satellites into space. Our successors have managed to place spacecraft on the moon and Mars, fulfilling the nation's thousand-year dreams of exploring the heavens.

"I really hope that our younger scientists, researchers, engineers and technicians can see their work as a long-distance race, stay true to their missions, and use all their passion and energy to advance the country's science and technology."