This is a list of Chinese astronauts. Although they are sometimes referred to as taikonauts in the media, this term is not officially used in China. The official designation in English is simply astronauts (Chinese: 航天员 hángtiānyuán). The list includes individuals trained by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to command, pilot, or serve as crew members aboard spacecraft.
As the Chinese space program developed during the sixties, various proposals for crewed spacecraft were made. The first crewed spacecraft proposed by the People's Republic of China during the late 1960s and early 1970s was the Shuguang One which was expected to bring the first Chinese astronaut in 1973 into space. For this programme 19 astronauts were selected in 1971. However, shortly after these plans were made, several leading scientists attached to the project were denounced, bringing progress to a standstill. Instead, NASA astronaut Taylor Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, became the first ethnically Chinese person in space in 1985.
