China shows first images of Mars rover, aims for 2020 mission

Concept portrayal of China's Mars rover and lander released on August 23, 2016 by lunar probe and space project center of Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. China Daily/via REUTERS

China has showed off its first images of a rover it plans to sent to Mars in mid-2020, which is designed to explore the planet surface for three months, state media said, the latest aim of China's ambitious space program.

China in 2003 became the third country to put a man in space with its own rocket after the former Soviet Union and the United States.