China has vowed to turn itself into a "space power" and announced two new missions in the next half-decade. 

In a white paper outlining its space strategy, the country says it will aim to land a probe on the far side of the moon in 2018 and launch a second one to Mars in 2020 .

The white paper, titled China's Space Activities in 2016" explains that over the next five years, the country's aim is: "to explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power is a dream we pursue unremittingly."

The Mars probe will be designed to carry out a soft landing on the red planet before coming back to Earth with samples.

The probe will: "Conduct research into major scientific questions such as the origin and evolution of the solar system, and search for extraterrestrial life."