BEIJING — Three Chinese astronauts, the first sent to orbit for space station construction, have completed their three-month mission and returned to Earth safely on Sept 17.

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship, carrying astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The three astronauts have exited the return capsule, all in good condition.

This is also the first time that the Dongfeng landing site was used in the search and retrieval of the manned spacecraft.

On June 17, the Shenzhou-12 spaceship was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China and docked with the space station core module Tianhe. After docking, the three astronauts entered the core module and began their three-month stay in space.

The crew carried out extravehicular activities twice as well as a series of space science and technology experiments. They tested key technologies for the construction and operation of the space station, concerning long-term stays for astronauts, the recycling and life support system, supply of space materials, extravehicular activities and operations and in-orbit maintenance.