BEIJING - President Xi Jinping on Tuesday hailed China's latest achievements made in space exploration and stressed the importance of scientific innovation in the field.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong as well as representatives involved in research and testing for the country's Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11 space mission.

Launched on Oct 17, the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft docked two days later with China's first space lab, Tiangong-2, where Jing and Chen lived for 30 days, the longest time a Chinese astronaut has spent in space.

The mission transported personnel and materials between Earth and Tiangong-2, and tested the spacecraft's ability to successfully meet, dock and return.