China wants its permanent manned space station up and running by 2022 by launching its core module in 2018, Xinhua reported.

The core module for the space station is likely to be called Tianhe-1, which stands for Milky Way or galaxy in Chinese.

"Two space labs will be launched later and dock with the core module, 'Tianhe-1. The construction of the space station is expected to finish in 2022,"  said Wang Zhognyang, spokesman for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.   

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China is increasing its focus on space exploration as President Xi Jinping urged the country to become a space power. It plans to launch space craft  Shenzhou 11 and Tiangong 2 which can carry two astronauts this year. In 2017, the country plans to experiment with its first cargo ship, Tianzhou 1, to get it docked with Tiangong 2.

China claims its space exploration measures to be peace oriented. It aims to build its presence in space for scientific, commercial, and military purposes. Its Jade Rabbit moon rover reached moon in 2013. The country also plans to launch a Hubble Space Telescope clone in space. The telescope is said to  "be on a separate space unit and share orbit alongside the space station," Wang stated.

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